Abstract
Fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) have been used for many years in the aerospace and automotive industries. In the construction industry they can be used for cladding or for structural elements in a highly aggressive environment. These materials are now becoming popular mostly for the strengthening of existing structures. Fiber reinforced polymers can be convenient compared to steel for a number of reasons. There are a number of advantages in using fiber reinforced polymers. These materials have higher ultimate strength and lower density than steel.
The subject of this paper is the numerical analyses of RC structural elements. The finite element method has been chosen as a basic framework for the analyses. The main aim was to make the most effective use of the algorithms currently available for the numerical non linear analysis and to improve them, where possible, in order to reduce the number of hypothesis conditioning the results. Such results can then support the interpretation of experimental data and can be used to determine quantities that cannot be easily measured in laboratory tests.
The analysis have been carried out by using the finite element code LUSAS, widely used in both the scientific research and the design industry.
KEYWORDS: FRP materials reinforced concrete, internal reinforcement, finite element.
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