Behaviour of gfrpgeopolymer concrete composite structural elements beams and columns

Abstract

Concrete structures constructed in the past without adhering proper guidelines from the building codes causes a serious public issue especially in case of catastrophic failure during natural calamities all over the world. In India, many existing structures are branded with various deficiencies like inadequate design strength, poor ductility, improper maintenance of the structure etc. In order to reduce losses due to these reasons or in case of structural collapse during natural calamities, many existing structures are in urgent need of retrofit. Apart from the above said reasons, deterioration of concrete structures due to ageing, corrosion of reinforcement and exposure of structural elements to adverse climatic conditions, poor construction materials and workmanship has led to the necessity of strengthening of structures. Meanwhile, the use of fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) as reinforcement for structures is rapidly gaining appeal. This is due to the many advantages these materials afford when compared to conventional steel reinforcement or concrete encasements. Their light weight, high strength-to-weight ratio, ease of handling and application, lack of requirement for heavy lifting and handling equipment and corrosion resistance are some factors that are advantageous in repair, retrofitting and rehabilitation of civil engineering structures. A lot of experimental investigations have been reported on the behaviour of conventional reinforced concrete elements, strengthened for flexure using externally bonded FRP plates, sheets or fabrics. Besides, only few literatures are available dealing with the behavior of Geopolymer concrete elements viz., beams and columns subjected to flexural strengthening and axial strengthening respectively, which became the objective of this research. newline