Performance of axially loaded reinforced concrete rectangular columns strengthened with GFRP strips

Sticking of glass fibre cloth around a column using epoxy resin is one of the solutions for column strengthening. This paper details a study on short reinforced concrete (RC) rectangular columns having rounded edges with axial load strengthened using bi-directional Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) cloth glued with epoxy resin. The results obtained, indicate a notable increase in axial load capac-ity of RC rectangular column when wrapped with GFRP fabric around the column and stick with epoxy resin as glue. Wrapping completely around the column with strips is better than wrapping with single continuous fabric. Considering the width of strip, strips having more width are giving finer results than narrow width strips. When strips of two or more layers are wrapped, then staggering of strips is even bet -ter than sticking one strip merely on another. The axial load capacity is increased by the use of two layers of GFRP strips and sticking three layers of GFRP strips showed a decrease in the axial load capacity. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-ence on Advanced Materials Behavior and Characterization.