Bonding fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites to reinforced concrete (RC) structures has been accepted as a structurally-effective and cost-efficient strengthening and repair method. Research and development on this technique started in the Kliger et al.,.Eur J Wood Prod 74:319–330, 2016s and a great deal of effort has been made to study different behavioral aspects of FRP bonded concrete structures ever since, whose results have been reflected in several design codes and guidelines. Despite the extensive research, there is still knowledge gaps limiting the application of FRP materials in infrastructure. Long-term performance and uncertainty related to environmental durability and poor structural behavior at elevated temperature are among the most critical barriers. There are also issues related to debonding and how to increase the strengthening effect by means of using prestressed FRP laminates. This paper presents a review of the most recent works on FRP bonded RC structures related to abovementioned aspects conducted by different research groups in Sweden, Italy, and UAE.

Corrosion of steel reinforcement is the major cause of deterioration in reinforced concrete structures. Strengthening of concrete structures has been widely studied. However, most research was conducted on sound structures without considering the effects of corrosion. This paper presents an experimental study of the feasibility of using externally bonded FRP laminates combined with U-jackets, applied directly without repairing the deteriorated concrete cover, to strengthen beams with corroded reinforcement. Ten beams were tested in four-point bending. Two beams were not deteriorated and non-strengthened; these served as references. The other eight were pre-loaded to induce flexural cracks and then exposed to accelerated corrosion. Two of the deteriorated beams were not strengthened, three were strengthened with glass-FRP (GFRP) laminates and three with carbon-FRP (CFRP) plates on the beam soffits. On the six strengthened beams, CFRP U-jackets were installed along the span. Local corrosion levels were evaluated with a 3D-scanning technique. Pitting corrosion significantly reduced the load-carrying and deformation capacity of the deteriorated beams. Despite average corrosion levels of 20%, local corrosion levels up to 57% and corrosion-induced cracks up to 1.9 mm wide, the FRP-strengthening method (applied directly to the beams without repairing the deteriorated concrete cover) was effective in upgrading the load-carrying capacity and flexural stiffness. The applied U-jackets effectively suppressed the delamination of the concrete cover and led to the rupture of GFRP laminates and a utilisation ratio of CFRP plates up to 64%. However, improvement in the deformation capacity was not noticeable; this requires further research.

This paper presents an innovative method of prestressing carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates used as externally bonded reinforcement for flexural strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) beams. The proposed method aims to achieve self-anchorage of the prestressed CFRP plate and thus eliminate the need for conventional mechanical anchorage at its ends. Experimental tests of RC beams in four-point bending were conducted to investigate the strengthening efficiency of the self-anchored prestressed CFRP plate. The experimental results showed that using the self-anchored prestressed CFRP significantly improved the flexural performance of the strengthened beam in terms of bending stiffness, crack widths, and load-carrying capacity. The utilisation ratio of the prestressed CFRP plate reached 81% at its debonding. Numerical analyses using nonlinear finite element (FE) method were conducted to model the tested specimens. Based on the reliable simulation of flexural cracks and crack-induced CFRP debonding, parametric studies were conducted using FE analyses, in order to investigate the effect of prestressing levels and the CFRP plate's stiffness on the flexural behaviour. Recommendations were then made for selecting a proper prestressing level and the mechanical properties of CFRP plates.

Soil–steel composite bridges (SSCB) have become increasingly popular for short-span bridges as an alternative to concrete slab bridges mainly due to their low initial cost, rapid manufac-ture, simplified construction, and geometrical adaptability. SSCBs have a variety of applications and can be used over waterways or roadways. While conventional bridges tend to lose their load-carrying capacity due to degradation, SSCBs gain strength because of backfill soil consolidation. However, the load carrying capacity and integrity of such structures highly depends on the condition and load-carrying capacity of the steel arch element. A major drawback of SSCBs, especially those located on waterways or with poor drainage, is corrosion and subsequent loss of cross-sectional capacity. Unfortunately, the inspection of such bridges is not straightforward and any damage/collapse will be very costly to repair/replace. Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites offer an attractive alternative to replace the steel in these types of bridges. FRP composites have significantly improved durability characteristics compared to steel, which will reduce maintenance costs and improve life-cycle costs (LLCs). This paper presents a new concept to use glass FRP as a construction material to construct soil–FRP composite bridges (SFCB). Various aspects of design and manufacturing are presented along with results and conclusions from a case study involving alternative bridge designs in steel and FRP composites.

Strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) structures by externally bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates has been widely accepted as an effective and cost-efficient method. It is well known that advantages offered by the bonded CFRP laminates can be further increased by prestressing the laminates prior to bonding. Mechanical anchors are essential, in this case, to prevent debonding since interfacial stress at areas close to the ends of the strengthening laminate is several times higher than the strength of the concrete substrate. Common anchorage solutions often consist of bolted metallic plates to clamp the prestressed CFRP laminate. Besides labor-intensive installation operation, the anchor plates are vulnerable to galvanic corrosion, which further complicates the inspection and increases the maintenance costs. There are also doubts about the long-term performance of such anchorage systems as it highly depends on the quality of the adhesive layer between the plate and laminate, and the level of pre-tension in clamping bolts. This paper presents the work conducted at Chalmers University of Technology on the development of an innovative prestressing method and a tool which allow for the application of prestressed CFRP laminates without mechanical anchors. The principles of the novel method and the prestressing system are explained. Experimental and numerical work carried out on an RC beam strengthened with this method is presented. Results indicate that CFRP laminates with high prestressing forces (approximately 30% of CFRP tensile strength) can be safely anchored without the need for mechanical anchors. Numerical results based on finite element analyses show that the proposed prestressing method can reduce the interfacial shear stresses in the CFRP-concrete adhesive joint below the bond strength with a reasonable safety margin.

This paper presents an innovative method for flexural strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) bridges using pre-stressed carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates as externally bonded reinforcement (EBR) and glass-fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) deck panels. The work was a part of an EUfunded project called sustainable refurbishment of existing bridges (SUREBridge). The innovative features of this concept include the tensile reinforcement of the section using self-anchored pre-stressed CFRP laminates and compressive reinforcement of the section using tailor-made GFRP deck panels at the same time. The flexural behavior of RC T-section beams, strengthened using this concept, has been studied experimentally. Four 6-meter-long beams-three strengthened with bonded pre-stressed CFRP laminates in bottom with a pre-stressing force of 100 kN and GFRP deck panels on the top side and one as control beam-were tested in four-point bending configuration. The results indicated a substantial increase of ca. 160% in ultimate load carrying capacity of the strengthened beams as well as considerable improvements in flexural stiffness and cracking loads. The strengthened beams also displayed a ductile behavior after debonding of externally bonded CFRP laminates while maintaining the maximum load level before debonding due to the strong bond between the GFRP decks panels and the concrete beam. It was concluded that the proposed method has the potential to be introduced as a reliable method for strengthening of old concrete bridges.