Infrastructure Applications of Carbon Fiber Grids

摘要

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) materials have been used for a number of years to strengthen concrete bridges, buildings and other structures to permit increased loadings, to address deficiencies, or to retrofit for extreme events like earthquakes and explosions. Externally bonded carbon, E-glass strengthening systems and to a lesser extent near surface mounted (NSM) carbon fiber systems, all commercially available, have been successfully used on a number of projects. The number of manufacturers supplying these types of systems has also increased over the last decade from a handful to over a dozen today. To address the increasing interest in the use of these alternative strengthening techniques the American Concrete Institute (ACI) first published ACI 440.2R-02, Guide for the Design and Construction of Externally Bonded FRP Systems for Strengthening Concrete Structures in 2002. An innovative FRP form developed for reinforcing concrete structures as an alternative to welded wire fabric (WWF) or light rebar recently was used for strengthening concrete structures. The bridge project described in this paper utilized two, complimentary carbon fiber strengthening systems drawing upon the features of each to contribute to a successful upgrade.