Strengthening of an existing reinforced concrete structure
Exclusive Summary:
Nowadays, strengthening methods became very important in civil engineering; hence our project came to study the most modern method in strengthening (FRP). Our project deals with strengthening an exiting reinforced concrete structure using Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRP). In order to achieve this objective, several steps were carried out. First of all, comparisons between existing strengthening methods where the advantages and disadvantages of each method were discussed. Then an exiting reinforced concrete building was selected and the structure elements (slabs and beams for the ground floor) were analyzed. This analysis gave us an indication of the capacity of these elements. Because there are too many structural elements, Prokon software was used in order to save the time and to be familiar with one of the professional structural analysis software. On the other side, an experimental test was done in order to determine the effect of the four different environments ( indoor, Hot 100% humidity , Hot 0%humidity, and outdoor) on the behavior of FRP material.
Finally, the results of the experimental work were discussed and it was found that FRP is a very powerful system (it could double or triple the strength capacity of the beam) and was not affected by the sever environments.