Experimental Study on the Compressive Behavior of Concrete Encased in CFRP Tubes

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) tube-encased concrete columns represent a formwork-free, steel-free, and corrosion-resistant alternative for a construction of a new infrastructure. In this study, a total of nine square concrete columns with cross-section of 200mmx200mm and height of 600mm including six confined concrete encased in CFRP tubes and three unconfined concrete as control specimens are prepared. The tubes with fibers oriented at 90 degrees from axial direction are manufactured to have 3 or 5 plies of CFRP with 10mm, 20mm, or 40mm rounding corner radius. To ensure proper bond, a 100mm overlap is provided in the direction of fibers. Uniaxial compressive tests are conducted to investigate the axial strength, compressive behavior, stress-strain relationship, and ductility of them throughout the loading history until the CFRP tubes rupture. It is evident that in all cases, the CFRP tube confinement can improve the behavior of unconfined concrete, in terms of axial compressive strength or axial deformability. Test results have shown that the stress-strain behavior of confined specimens vary with different confinement parameters, such as the level of confinement (3-ply and 5-ply), corner radius at vertical edges (10, 20 and 40 mm).