Compressive behavior of GFRP partially strengthened corroded RC columns subjected to freeze-thaw erosion

The compression test of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) partially strengthened corroded reinforced concrete (RC) columns subjected to freeze-thaw cycling was conducted in this study. A total of 45 small-scale RC columns were prepared. The columns were firstly subjected to accelerated corrosion conditioning to obtain the target level of steel loss, and then partially strengthened with 2-ply GFRP strips; finally, the strengthened RC columns were subjected to different freeze-thaw cycles. The main parameters in this experiment were reinforcement corrosion degree (0, 10%, and 20%) and number of freeze-thaw cycles (0, 25, 50, and 75). The compressive behaviors of columns were evaluated in terms of failure mode, load capacity, loaddisplacement response, stiffness, and ductility. Results showed that GFRP partially strengthening could significantly improve the load capacity, stiffness, and ductility of corrosion-damaged RC columns, while the ultimate load capacity and stiffness of strengthened columns decreased with the increase of freeze-thaw cycles. Moreover, a design-oriented calculation method for the ultimate load capacity of GFRP partially strengthened corroded RC columns subjected to freeze-thaw cycles was proposed and validated by the experimental results.

Automated summary

The study conducted compression tests on glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) partially strengthened corroded reinforced concrete (RC) columns subjected to freeze-thaw cycling. The results showed that GFRP partial strengthening significantly improved the load capacity, stiffness, and ductility of corrosion-damaged RC columns, but the ultimate load capacity and stiffness decreased with an increase in freeze-thaw cycles.