FRP Confinement of Stone Specimens Subjected to Moisture and Preload

There are many available studies on the reinforcement of columns by confinement with composite materials. However, in the particular case of stone elements, there is a lack of information regarding the performance of this solution under adverse conditions, which may occur during the life service of the structure. In this research, the confinement of calcarenite samples with a Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) jacket has been studied in different scenarios, which simulate real conditions of structural retrofitting works. Specifically, the FRP's efficiency was assessed in water saturation specimens, in damaged samples due to previous load, or the FRP jacket was casted directly in preloaded stone columns. As a general conclusion, FRP could improve notably the compressive strength of the unconfined material. In addition, the mechanical behavior seemed to depend on the FRP properties rather than the actual damage suffered by the rock core.

Automated summary

This study investigated the confinement of calcarenite samples using a Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) jacket in various scenarios. The results showed that FRP can significantly improve the compressive strength of the unconfined material, and the mechanical behavior is more dependent on the properties of the FRP.