Local buckling of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) plates restrained by a rigid medium

External steel plate bonding by both gluing and bolting has been applied to the retrofitting of reinforced concrete slabs and beams extensively throughout the last decade. More recently the benefits of CFRP plates have also been applied to similar applications due to the higher strength to weight ratio and the improved durability characteristics, which are important in exposed environments. In the study of steel plate bonding, consideration of the effects of local and post-local buckling has been addressed, in cases where the steel plate extends into the compressive zones of the member. To enable the use of side plating using CFRP plates one must consider the local and post-local buckling behaviour of these plates, which have completely different material characteristics to steel. Firstly the plates are anisotropic and they also exhibit elastic brittle behaviour. This paper will discuss the augmentation of an existing elastic finite strip method. The research will then allow design rules to be developed for applying CFRP plates to existing concrete structures.