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SP-215 The field application of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials as reinforcement for concrete structures has been growing rapidly in recent years, mostly with interest in alternatives to steel reinforcing bars and for strengthening concrete structures. FRP products provide options and benefits not available using traditional materials. As a result of the extensive use of FRP as internal and external reinforcement for new structures and strengthening concrete structures, respectively, ACI Committee 440 organized three technical sessions on “Field Application of FRP Reinforcement—Case Studies” with a total of 21 papers presented at the ACI Fall 2003 Convention in Boston, Mass. All papers deal with case studies and demonstration projects to provide clear evidence of the practicality, credibility, and maturity attained by this technology. This volume includes the papers presented during the Fall 2003 Convention, plus five additional papers that augment the range of field applications and case studies. The goal of this document is to help practitioners implement FRP technology, while providing testimony that design and construction with FRP material systems is rapidly moving from emerging to mainstream technology.

Maintenance, rehabilitation and change in use of existing structures have become more and more important the number of new structures decreases. More than 10 years ago FRP strengthening systems were introduced into the construction industry. External flexural strengthening of reinforced concrete structures using bonded CFRP plates was first utilized in 1991 on the Ibach Bridge near Lucerne, Switzerland [1]. After the first pilot applications in the early 1990's and introduction to the market in 1994, flexural strengthening by bonding CFRP plates to many structures has become accepted world-wide and is now commonplace [2]. Systematic testing undertaken by Sika AG, Switzerland in co-operation with the independent laboratories of EMPA (Swiss Federal Institute for Materials Testing and Research) offers a new solution for shear strengthening using CFRP L-shaped plates. To guarantee the expected long-term behaviour of the strengthening system, it is necessary that the CFRP plate and the structural adhesive be designed and installed as a complete system.

A detailed evaluation, combined with a new snow and wind study, was carried out on the Olympic Saddledome to confirm its ability to support heavier suspended loads. The results of the study confirmed that the main roof cables have sufficient capacity to resist the increased load. However a new snow loading condition, identified in the snow study, had the potential to overstress specific roof panel elements. A finite element analysis of the roof panels supported the conclusion that under the newly identified snow/wind load combination, several roof panels of the Saddledome will face demands that are above the ultimate roof capacity according to the National Building Code of Canada (NBCC 1995). Therefore, it was decided to strengthen selected roof panels of the Saddledome using FRP plates. Special consideration was given for analyzing the effect of creep on the strengthened concrete panels. This was due to the relatively high creep stress expected in the roof panels as a result of using lightweight concrete. It was feared that such high stress might result in creep of the epoxy resins and system debonding under loads lower than that predicted by the analysis. In this paper, Design considerations for the effect of creep are discussed and the results of full scale tests are presented. Performance design for serviceability and deformability of the roof panels was considered. Special provisions in the project specifications were used to ensure satisfactory surface preparation to achieve adequate bond between the FRP laminates and the roof panels. Performance specifications were also developed for the required mechanical and durability characteristics of the FRP strengthening system rather than specifying the type of FRP material.

In 1997, a precast, prestressed T-beam in the Ala Moana Shopping Center parking garage, in Honolulu, Hawaii, was strengthened in flexure using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips epoxy bonded to the soffit of the beam. When the parking garage was demolished in June 2000, this beam and two control beams were salvaged and brought to the University of Hawaii for testing. This paper presents the retrofit procedures used during field application of the CFRP strips. It also describes the beam recovery and preparation for laboratory testing. The test program and results of the flexural testing of both unstrengthened and strengthened beams under four-point loading are presented in detail. The CFRP retrofit significantly increased the flexural capacity of the beam while also increasing its flexural ductility. The failure moment was well in excess of the nominal moment capacity predicted using the strain-compatibility procedure described in the ACI 440R-02 report.

To prevent future blowouts of sections of the 50-year-old pipe, the Providence Water Supply Board decided to evaluate the condition of a main water pipeline. Non-destructive testing (NDT) investigations revealed that certain sections of the pipe were potentially deficient due to corrosion and breakage of the prestressing system. Strengthening of deficient sections was necessary to maintain the pipeline operational. A carbon fiber in-situ lining appeared to be the fastest, least disruptive, and most cost-effective upgrade solution. The specialty concrete repair contractor conducted full-scale tests to validate optimum FRP repair and waterstop termination design. In these tests, after the carbon fiber liner was installed, the prestressing strands of the FRPstrengthened section were cut leaving the FRP to be the only reinforcement. The test pipe was progressively pressurized until failure occurred at approximately 2-1/2 times the pipe service and surge pressures. The full-scale test proved the integrity of the system beyond theoretical prediction and assured the owner that strength was added to the pipe sections. The lightweight, flexible carbon fiber material along with thorough planning helped overcome challenging working conditions and provided a fast and effective upgrade solution.