Abstract:
In the last two decades, FRP systems have been largely used to improve the performance of
structural members, due to their high strength to weight ratio and corrosion resistance.
Application of this strengthening procedure in circular columns has resulted quite beneficial in
increasing their seismic and axial capacity. Whereas in the rectangular ones, strength
enhancement was considerably less. Hence this paper aims in introducing the FRP strengthening
mechanism of rectangular columns and highlighting its limitations in strength enhancement when
compared to the circular counterparts. The corner radii, aspect ratio and concrete compressive
strength effect on the capacity increase rate are evaluated as well, based on the results of the large
database provided by different experimental studies performed until now. A novel anchorage
configuration is suggested to overcome the existing limitations for enhancement of axial strength
in this column category. Analysis of the improvement that this solution provides to the
confinement pressure distribution was performed by ANSYS Software. Experimental and
analytical results supported the increase of stress distribution uniformity in the anchored
rectangular column section.
