Retrofitting of RC piles using GFRP composites

Extensive research has been carried out in recent years on the use of Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites in the strengthening of Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures. The piles in berthing structures need to be retrofitted to accommodate berthing of higher Dead Weight Tonnage (DWT) vessels. This paper presents the Finite element analysis, to study the behavior of retrofitted RC Pile specimens strengthened with Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) composites using commercial software ANSYS. Experiments were also conducted to justify the finite element analysis results. Eight RC pile specimens were cast with same reinforcement details to study the behavior under different loading conditions. Four specimens were used as control and remaining four were retrofitted with GFRP fabric. The effect of retrofitting on RC pile specimens was studied. The load deflection and load strain plots obtained from numerical study is compared with the experimental plots. The crack patterns in the pile specimens are also presented. A parametric study is carried out to investigate the effect of various parameters on the strength of RC piles. The parameters include unconfined concrete strength, the steel ratio and the thickness of FRP. © 2009 Korean Society of Civil Engineers and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH.