Asia-Pacific Conference on FRP in Structures (APFIS 2007)

S.T. Smith (ed)

2007 International Institute for FRP in Construction

STRESS-STRAIN MODEL FOR FRP-CONFINED CONCRETE

RECTANGULAR COLUMNS

Y. Ouyang 1 and N.K. Liu 2*

Department of Civil Engineering,

Shanghai University, China. Email: lau_ken@shu.edu.cn

ABSTRACT

The confinement of FRP shows strong and weak aspects. It is mainly related to the effective stiffness ratio, while
the ultimate point is mainly related to the effective confinement ratio. Considering the influence of corner radius,
the diameter of equivalent cylinder was assumed. The influence of aspect ratio on the shape factor was studied.
The calculating formulas for the transitional point were suggested. The equations of the ultimate strength and
strain for strong and weak aspects were put forward. Finally, the stress-strain model for FRP-confined concrete
rectangular columns was presented. The model can be used to calculate the stress-strain relationship of FRP-
confined concrete cylinders as well. It is simple and matches favourably with experimental results from past
studies by other researchers each.

KEYWORDS

Fiber reinforced polymer, rectangular column, confinement, stress-strain relationship.

INTRODUCTION

In recent years, due to some excellent properties of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP), retrofitting structures with
FRP has been drawing more and more attention especially for improving the compressive strength and ductility
of reinforced concrete columns. The basic stress-strain relationship describes the basic mechanical properties of
FRP confined concrete. However, up to now most stress-strain relationship models for FRP confined concrete
have been obtained from the test results of circular columns (Samaan et al. 1998; Toutanji 1999; Xiao and Wu
2003; Lam and Teng 2003a). Since the FRP confinement effect is different for circular columns from for
rectangular columns, these models are suitable only for the nonlinear analysis of circular columns, while most
concrete columns in building structures are of rectangular section. A well modelling of the stress-strain
behaviour of FRP-confined concrete rectangular is of great significance especially for the design of rectangular
columns retrofitted with FRP.

TEST DATABASE
In order to calibrate the new model, more than sixty existing specimens listed in the references were first
collected and investigated. These experimental results (Mirmiran et al. 1998; Rochette and Labossiere 2000;
Pessiki et al. 2001; Parvin and Wang 2001; Lam and Teng 2003b; Ouyang et al. 2004) covered a wide range of
parameters that affected the mechanism of confinement as summarized as follows: (1) The side length of
rectangular column is between 100 and 225 mm, and the height between 200 and 610 mm; (2) The corner
radiuses of cross-section are between 5 and 38 mm; (3) Axial compressive strength of concrete range from 21.4
to 43.9 MPa; (4) Three types of CFRP, GFRP and AFRP reinforcements are used; (5) The tensile strength of
FRP vary between 230 and 4519 MPa, the modulus of FRP vary between 11 and 257 GPa, and the thickness of
FRP vary between 0.165 and 5.04 mm.

PROPOSED MODEL FOR FRP-CONFINED RECTANGULAR COLUMNS

Confining Pressure and Confining Modulus

The confining pressure and confining modulus are two significant influence parameters to FRP-confined
concrete. In a circular concrete column, the confining pressure is constant around the circumference. When the

149
FRP jacket ruptures, the confining pressure reaches its maximum value. The confining pressure f l and confining
modulus El can be given by Eqs 1 and 2, respectively
2 f frp t frp
fl = (1)
D
2 E frp t frp
El = (2)
D
where f frp is ultimate tensile strength of FRP, t frp is thickness of FRP layers, E frp is modulus of elasticity of
FRP, D is diameter of concrete cylinder.

However, experimental results show that in most cases, the FRP material tensile strength was not reached at the
rupture of FRP in FRP-confined concrete. Several causes have been suggested for this phenomenon (Teng et al.
2002; Lam and Teng 2003a). Based on the analysis of a large number of test data, Lam and Teng (2003a)
suggested that the effective ultimate strain of CFRP could be 0.586 frp , the effective ultimate strain of GFRP
could be 0.624 frp , and the effective ultimate strain of AFRP could be 0.851 frp . In the present study, the
effective ultimate strain of FRP frp , rup is determined by this suggestion.
Considering the effective ultimate strain of FRP, the confining pressure f l is given by
2 f frp t frp 2 E frp frp ,rup t frp
fl = = (3)
D D
Consequently, the confinement ratio and stiffness ratio are defined as
fl 2 f frp t frp
= = (4)
f co' Df co'
El 2 E frp t frp
= = (5)
f co' Df co'
where f co' is compressive strength of unconfined concrete cylinder.

Diameter of Equivalent Concrete Cylinder

The confining pressure of FRP-confined rectangular column is not uniform. To calculate simply, some
researchers (Mirmiran et al. 1998; Lam and Teng 2003b; Campione and Miraglia 2003; Wu and lu 2004; Jing
and Cao 2005) proposed the concept of equivalent cylinder. The existing studies didnt consider the effect of the
corner radius on the values of the diameter of equivalent cylinder. However, some experiments (e.g. Rochette
and Labossiere 2000; Lam and Teng 2003b) showed that the performance of FRP-confined rectangular columns
is significantly related to the corner radius. Therefore, considering the influence of corner radius in the present
model, the diameter of equivalent concrete cylinder D (Figure 1a ) is defined as
D = [b ( 2 2 ) r ] 2 + [ h ( 2 2 ) r ] 2 (6)
When the sectional shape is square, h=b, the diameter of equivalent concrete cylinder is the diagonal distance of
the section (Figure 1 b). That is
D = 2 (b 2r ) + 2r (7)
With the increasing of the corner radius, the sectional shape changes to circular gradually. When the corner
radius r=b/2, the sectional shape becomes circular (Figure 1 b).

D
h

D D D D D

b r b-2r r b=2r b r b-2r r b=2r

r=0 0<r<b/2 r=b/2 r=0 0<r<b/2 r=b/2
(a) when h>b (b) when h=b
Figure 1. Diameter of equivalent concrete cylinder

APFIS 2007 150

Shape Factor

It is commonly accepted that in a rectangular section, only part of the concrete is effectively confined by
transverse reinforcement through the arching action. In all exiting theoretical models based on the effective
confinement area concept, it is assumed that only the concrete contained by the four parabolas which intersect
the edges at 45o is effectively confined. This assumption is believed to be invalid for rectangular sections with
high aspect ratios, although the situation may be different in the case of confinement provided by steel hoops
(Mander and Priestley 1988). Therefore, in the proposed model, considering the influence of the aspect ratio,
the effective confinement area Ae (Lam and Teng 2003b) is given by

Ae = Ac
(b / h )(h 2r )2 + (h / b )(b 2r )2 (8)
3
where Ac is the column area confined by FRP, Ac = bh (4 )r 2 .
Consequently, the shape factor is given by
A
ks = e = 1
(b / h )(h 2r )2 + (h / b )(b 2r )2 (9)
Ac 3 Ac
When the sectional shape of concrete columns is circular, the shape factor k s = 1.0 and the confinement is the
most effective.

Effective Confinement Ratio and Effective Stiffness Ratio

Considering the influence of the shape factor, the effective confining pressure f l ' and the effective confining
modulus El' are given by
2 E frp frp ,rup t frp
fl' = ks fl = ks (10)
D
2 E frp t frp
El' = k s El = k s (11)
D
Consequently, the effective confinement ratio ' and the effective stiffness ratio ' are given by
fl ' f
' = = k s l' (12)
f co' f co
El' E
' = = k s 'l (13)
f co
'
f co
When the sectional shape of concrete column is circular, Eqs 12 and 13 transform to Eqs 4 and 5, respectively.

Transitional Stress and Transitional Strain

The confinement of FRP has strong and weak aspects. It is mainly related to the effective stiffness ratio ' , while
the ultimate point is mainly related to the effective confinement ratio ' .

With strong confinement, the ultimate stress is more than the transitional stress. And with weak confinement, the
ultimate stress is less than the transitional stress. Based on the analysis of a large number of test data assembled
from the open literature (Figure 2), the equations are given by
With strong confinement: ' = k s E'l 12.5 (14)
f co

With weak confinement: ' = k s E'l < 12 .5 (15)

f co
The transitional stress and strain of FRP-confined concrete rectangular column are both mainly related to the
effective stiffness radio. Based on the regression analysis (Figures 3 and 4), the transitional stress f cp' and the
transitional strain cp can be approximated as Eqs 16 and 17, respectively
f cp'
= p1 + k p1 ' 1 p = 1.0 k p1 = 0.0111 (16)
f co'
cp
= p 2 + k p 2 ' p 2 = 1.0 k p 2 = 0.0399 (17)
co

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 2.5

2.0

1.5

fcc/fcp
1.0

0.5 Test data

0.0
0 12.5 25 37.5 50 62.5

Figure 2. The relationship of fcc/fcp-

2.5 3.0

2.5
2.0
2.0
1.5
fcp/fco

cp/co
1.5
1.0
1.0
Test data
0.5 Test data
0.5 Proposed model
Proposed model
0.0 0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 0 5 10 15 20 25

Figure 3. The relationship of fcp/fco- Figure 4. The relationship of cp/co-

Ultimate Stress and Ultimate Strain

Exiting test results (e.g. Mirmiran et al. 1998; Rochette and Labossiere 2000) show that the ultimate stress and
strain of FRP-confined rectangular column are mainly related to the effective confinement ratio.
Based on the regression analysis (Figures 5 and 6), the ultimate stress f cc' and the ultimate strain cc for the
response with strong confinement are given by Eqs 18 and 19, respectively
f cc'
= 1 + k1 ' 1 = 1.0 k1 = 3.8 (18)
f co'
cc
= 2 + k 2 ' 2 = 1.0 k 2 = 28.1 (19)
co
Similarly, based on the regression analysis (Figures 7 and 8), the ultimate stress f cc' and the ultimate strain cc
for the response with weak confinement are given by Eqs 20 and 21, respectively
f cc'
= 3 + k3 ' 3 = 0.6 k3 = 3.1 (20)
f co'
cc
= 4 + k 4 ' 4 = 3.0 k 4 = 22.0 (21)
co

4 15

12
3

9
f'cc/f'co

cc/co

2
6

1 Test data Test data

3
Proposed model Proposed model

0 0
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

Figure 5. The relationship of fcc/fco- Figure 6. The relationship of cu/co-
with strong confinement with strong confinement

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 1.6 12

1.4 10

1.2 8
fcc/fco

cc/co
1.0 6

0.8 4
Test data Test data
0.6 2
Proposed model Proposed model
0.4 0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25

Figure 7. The relationship of fcc/fco- Figure 8. The relationship of cc/co-
with weak confinement with weak confinement

Stress-Strain Model for FRP-Confined Concrete Rectangular Columns

In the proposed model, the fist portion of the stress-strain curve is parabolic, and the second portion of the stress-
strain curve is linear (Figure 9). The proposed model is given by the following equations

2

= f ' 2 c c c cp
c cp
cp cp (22)


c = f cp' + cc
(
f '
f '
cp )(
c cp ) cp < c cc
cc cp

fcc' B

A
fcp' Linear with strong confinement

f '
cc B'
Linear with weak confinement

Parabola

0 cp cc cc c
Figure 9. Simplified stress-strain model of FRP-confined rectangular columns

A good agreement can be found from the comparisons between the predicted results by the proposed model and
some test results of FRP-confined rectangular columns as show in Figure 10.

When the corner radius of square cross-section is equal to b/2, the section becomes circular and the factor ks is
equal to 1.0. Therefore, the proposed model can be used to calculate the stress-strain relationship of FRP-
confined concrete cylinders as well. Figure 11 shows the comparison between the proposed model and some
exiting test results. It matches favorably with existing experimental results of FRP-confined concrete cylinders.

60 30
Axial stressMPa

Axial stressMPa

50 25
S2R15 Z1-1
40 20

30 15

20 10
Test
10
Test 5
Predicted Predicted
0 0
0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 0.012 0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01
Axial strain Axial strain

(a) Lam and Teng 2003b (b) Li et al. 2004

Figure 10. Comparison of the model and test results

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 60 75

50 60
Axial stressMPa

Axial stressMPa
40 2L-34
1L-34 45
30
30
20
Test
Test 15
10 Predicted
Predicted
0 0
0 0.003 0.006 0.009 0.012 0.015 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025
Axial strain Axial strain

(a) Xiao and Wu 2003 (b) Xiao and Wu 2003

Figure 11. Comparison between the proposed model and test results of FRP-confined cylinders

CONCLUSIONS

Based on a large number of test data, the stress-strain model for FRP-confined concrete rectangular columns is
presented. The model can be used to calculate the stress-strain relationship of FRP-confined concrete cylinders
as well. It is simple and matches favorably with experimental results from past studies by other researchers each.

REFERENCES

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