Compressive behavior of concrete columns axially-loaded before CFRP-wrapping. Remarks by experimental-numerical investigation

Strengthening of existing concrete columns with Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRP) results generally in a satisfactory structural member improvement in terms of load and strain capacity. A reliable prediction of the capacity obtained by these reinforcement strategies requests a proper knowledge of the load-strain response of the confined concrete elements. However, so far, the available design methods and technical codes do not consider the effect of the possible presence of service loads at the moment of application of the reinforcement, and therefore, the compressive behavior of the concrete confined under preload is still unclear. In this paper, the effect of sustained loads on the compressive behavior of concrete columns CFRP-confined while preloaded is analyzed. Experimental tests were performed on circular concrete columns confined under low, medium and high preload levels before wrapping ad subsequently loaded until failure, observing the differences respect to the standard compressive stress-strain response of FRP-confined concrete. A finite element (FE) model is also developed by using ABAQUS software to simulate the physical scheme of the experimental tests. The accuracy of the model is validated through comparing with the experimental results.