Strength and ductility of reinforced concrete using basalt fibre-reinforced polymers

This manuscript proposes a strength and ductility of reinforced concrete (RC) using basalt fibre-reinforced polymers (BFRP). The lightweight materials like fibre-reinforced polymers (FRPs) are providing superior structural performance and durability in reinforced concrete members over traditional materials. Due to its light weight property, they are proposed for building repair and strengthening works compared to conventional methods. Although, they exhibit excellent allowing them to be easily tailored and molded into any desired size and shape. The current study focuses on the strength and ductility improvement of reinforced concrete circular members externally reinforced by basalt fibre-reinforced polymers (BFRPs). M25 grade concrete mix was used for casting the RC circular samples. Twelve RC circular members were casted; among them 3 were bare samples and the remaining samples wrapped with one, two and three layers of BFRP sheets. An axial compressive force is applied to all RC circular samples both unwrapped and wrapped with BFRP. RC samples wrapped with BFRP sheets showed an extensive strength and ductility enhancement compared to bare sample. Finally, an optimum wrapping scheme is suggested for RC circular samples under compression.