Recent Advances in Repair and Rehabilitation of RCC
Structures with Nonmetallic Fibers
Abhijit Mukherjee l , Mangesh Joshi 2
ABSTRACT
Cement concrete reinforced with steel bars is an extremely popular construction material. One major flaw, namely its susceptibility to environmental attack, can severely reduce the strength and life of these structures. External reinforcements using steel plates have been used in earlier attempts to rehabilitate these structures. The most important problem that limited their wider application is corrosion. Recent developments in the field of fiber reinforced composites (FRCs) have resulted in the development of highly efficient construction materials. The (FRCs) are unaffected by electro-mechanical deterioration and can resist corrosive effects of acids, alkalis, salts and similar aggregates under a wide range of temperatures. This novel technique of rehabilitation is very effective and fast for earthquake affected structures and retrofitting of structures against possible earthquakes. This technique has been successfully applied in the earthquake-affected Gujarat. In the present paper important developments in this field from its origin to the recent times have been presented.
INTRODUCTION
Although hundreds of thousands of successful reinforced concrete and masonry buildings are annually constructed worldwide, there are large numbers of concrete and masonry structures that deteriorate, or become unsafe due to changes in loading, changes in use, or changes in configuration. Also from the recent earthquake of Gujarat it is clear that the old structures designed for gravity loads are not able to withstand seismic forces and caused wide spread damages. Repair of these structures with like materials is often difficult, expensive, hazardous and disruptive to the operations of the building. The removal and transportation of large amounts of concrete and masonry material causes concentrations of weight, dust, excessive noise, and requires long periods of time to gain strength before the building can be re- opened for service.
On the other hand, Fiber Reinforced Composite (FRC) materials, originally developed for the aerospace industry, are being considered for application to the repair of buildings due to their low weight, ease of handling and rapid implementation. A major development effort is underway to adapt these materials to the repair of buildings and civil structures. Appropriate configurations of fiber and polymer matrix are being developed to resist the complex and multi-directional stress fields present in building structural members. At the same time, the large volumes of material required for building repair and the low cost of the traditional building materials create a mandate for economy in the selection of FRP materials for building repair. Analytical procedures for reinforced and prestressed concrete and masonry reinforced with FRC materials need to be developed, validated, and implemented, through laboratory testing, ------------------------------------------------------------ 1 Proffesor, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Mumbai 400076,India 2 Research Student, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India
computational analysis, full-scale prototyping, and monitoring existing installations. This paper reports recent developments in research, especially experiments that have been carried out to determine the efficacy of the system. The authors understood that a good proportion of the of the audience is looking for a sound rehabilitation and retrofitting technique for earthquake affected and vulnerable areas. Therefore, we include a brief review of damages that have occurred in recent earthquake.
STRUCTURAL DAMAGES DUE TO EARTHQUAKE:
Earthquake generates ground motion both in horizontal and vertical directions. Due to the inertia of the structure the ground motion generates shear forces and bending moments in the structural framework. In earthquake resistant design it is important ensure ductility in the structure, ie. the structure should be able to deform without causing failure. The bending moments and shear forces are maximum at the joints. Therefore, the joints need to be ductile to efficiently dissipate the earthquake forces. Most failures in earthquake-affected structures are observed at the joints. Moreover, due to the existing construction practice, a construction joint is placed in the column very close to the beam-column joint(fig. 1(a)). This leads to shear or bending failure at or very close to the joint. The onset of high bending moments may cause yielding or buckling of the steel reinforcements. The high compressive stress in concrete may also cause crushing of concrete. If the concrete lacks confinement the joint may disintegrate and the concrete may spall (fig. 1(b,c)). All these create a hinge at the joint and if the number of hinges is more than the maximum allowed to maintain the stability of the structure the entire structure may collapse. If the shear reinforcement in the beam is insufficient there may be diagonal cracks near the joints (fig. 1(d)). This may also lead to failure of the joint. Bond failure is also observed, in case, lap splices are too close to the joints. Indian codes suggest methods that attempt to delay all these failures through a sound reinforcement detailing (IS 13920:1993). However, in many structures these details have not been followed due to perceived difficulties at site. In most of the structures in Gujarat lack of confinement and shear cracks have been found to be most common causes of failure. A rehabilitation and retrofitting strategy must alleviate these deficiencies from the structures.
Figure 1 (a) Failure at construction joint
Figure 1(b) Crushing of concrete
Figure 1 (c) Spalling of concrete
Figure 1 (d) Diagonal shear crack
CORROSI0N PROBLEMS IN INDIA
Cement concrete reinforced with steel bars is an extremely popular construction material. One major flaw, namely its susceptibility to environmental attack, can severely reduce the strength and life of these structures. In humid conditions, atmospheric moisture percolates through the concrete cover and reaches the steel reinforcements. The process of rusting of steel bars is then initiated. The steel bars expand due to the rusting and force the concrete cover out resulting in spalling of concrete cover. This exposes the reinforcements to direct environmental attack and the rusting process is accelerated. Along with unpleasant appearance it weakens the concrete structure to a high degree. The spalling reduces the effective thickness of the concrete. In addition, rusting reduces the cross sectional area of steel bars, thereby reducing the strength of the reinforcements. Moreover, the bond between the steel-and the concrete is reduced which increases the chances of slippage. The rusting related failure of reinforced concrete is more frequent in a saline atmosphere because salinity leads to a faster corrosion of the steel reinforcements. In a tropical country like India, where approximately 80% of the annual rainfall takes place in the two monsoon months, rusting related problems are very common, especially in residential and industrial structures. India also has a very long coastline where marine weather prevails. Typically, a building requires major restoration work within fifteen years of its construction.
EARLY METHODS OF REPAIR
From the above discussion we can conclude that the three main weaknesses of RCC structures that requires attention are: Loss of reinforcement due to corrosion Lack of confinement in concrete especially at the joints. Deterioration of concrete due to attack of multiple environmental agencies.
The present practice of repairs in India is focused towards delaying the deterioration. However, there have been some attempts to strengthen the dilapidated structures. A review on the methods of strengthening highway bridges is available in Dudek et al. (1985). In the last two decades the attempts on rehabilitation of damaged RC structures have been mainly concentrated in two methods external post tensioning, and the addition of epoxy bonded steel plates to the tension flange. High strength steel strands are used in external post tensioning to increase the strength of damaged concrete structures. Early investigation on this method has been reported by Berridge and Donovan ( 1968). The work was experimental in nature. Similar method has later been applied by Dunker et al. (1985) and Mancarti (1984). Saadatmanesh et al. (1989) have performed an experimental study on pre- stressed composite beams They also presented an analytical method for design of such beams. However, the main obstacle faced in this method is difficulty in providing anchorage in post-tensioning strands. The lateral stability of the girder may become critical due to post-tensioning. Moreover, the strands are to be protected very carefully against corrosion.
An alternative to the post tensioning method is the use of epoxy bonded steel plates(Fig 2). This alleviates the main difficulties of using the post- tensioning method -anchorage and lateral stability. This method has been applied to increase the carrying capacity of existing structures and to repair damaged structures as well. Several field applications of the epoxy bonded steel plate have been reported recently. In South Africa, the reinforcing steel of a few beams was accidentally omitted. These beams were strengthened with epoxy-bonded steel plates at the tension face (Dussek, 1980). Several cracked slabs and girders of the elevated highway bridges in Japan have been repaired using this method (Maeda et al., 1980). A number of damaged reinforced concrete bridges in Poland and erstwhile USSR have been repaired by bonding steel plates The main advantage of using this method in repairing bridges is that it does not need closing down of the traffic during the repair.
Experimental studies on post-reinforcing concrete beams by steel plates have been conducted by Jones et al. (1980) and Swamy et al ( 1987). Two series of beams of different dimensions were tested using two different glues. The yield strength of the steel plates were also varied. Several aspects such as glue thickness, pre-cracking prior to bending, plate lapping etc were studied. It was observed that the steel plate reinforced beam increases the allowable load on the structure and delays the usual cracks. The reinforcement improves overall mechanical characteristics of the Beam. McDonald and Calder ( 1982) studied the behavior of concrete beams of rectangular cross section reinforced with steel plates. They observed an improvement in performance in the ultimateload, stiffness and crack control. But the exposure tests revealed that considerable corrosion takes place in steel plates with natural exposure causing a loss of strength at the interface. Ladner et al (1981, 1989, 1990) have also observed a substantial increase in short term strength through steel plate post- reinforcing, but they also have reported a few disadvantages. Handling of heavy steel plates for long span beams can be very difficult Problems were faced in forming clean butt joints in steel plates at small intervals In addition, they also reported the possibility of high corrosion at the steel epoxy interface.
Composite Materials As Post-Reinforcement
Recent developments in the field of fiber reinforced composites (FRCs) have resulted in the development of highly efficient construction materials. They have been successfully used in a variety of industries such as aerospace, automobile and ship building The FRCs are unaffected by electro-mechanical deterioration and can resist corrosive effects of acids, alkalis, salts and similar aggregates under a wide range of temperatures. FRCs thus hold a very distinct advantage over steel plates as an external reinforcing device. Moreover, FRCs are available in the form of laminas and different thickness and orientation can be given to different layers to tailor its strength according to specific requirements.
The difficulties encountered in using steel plates as reinforcement lead us to the use of fiber reinforced composite materials as post-reinforcements. Due to their high specific strength (strength/weight ratio) the composite reinforcements are very light and easy to handle. The composite materials are available as unidirectional fibers of a huge length. Therefore, joints in the reinforcement can be avoided very easily. Moreover, the corrosion of the reinforcements can be avoided completely. Research work is gaining momentum on the application of composite materials as post-reinforcement (Nanni et al., 1995). The potential use of fiber reinforced composites in civil structures is manifold. The scope of the present paper is limited to the repair of - existing concrete structures only.
The scenario of the application of composites is shown in Fig.3
Fig. 3 Application of fiber reinforced composites in structures
FRCs can be used in the concrete structures in the following forms:
Plates -at a face to improve the tension capacity. Bars -as reinforcement in beams and slabs replacing the steel bars. Cables -as tendons and post tension members in suspension and bridge girders. Wraps -around concrete members to confine concrete and improve the compressive strength.
Materials For Strengthening Of Structures
Figure 4 presents a comparison of mechanical behavior of materials that are available for strengthening of structures. It can be seen that the non- metallic fibers have strengths that are 10 times more than that of steel. The ultimate strain of these fibers is also very high. In addition, density of these materials is approximately one-third that of steel. Due to its corrosion resistance FRCs can be applied on the surface of the structure without worrying about its deterioration due to environmental attack. They in turn protect the concrete core from environmental attack. FRPC sheets, being malleable, can be wrapped around the joints very easily. We shall discuss the investigations on application FRP on concrete.
FRC PLATES AS REINFORCEMENT TO CONCRETE BEAMS
FRC for strengthening of structures can be glued to an old and deteriorated concrete surface to improve its strength. This method is more convenient and durable than epoxy bonded steel plates. Early research works focused on this area and a large volume of literature exists. Meier (1987) has examined the suitability of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy laminates for rehabilitation of concrete bridges. The first doctoral dissertation on the field has been presented by Kaiser (1989) of the same institute. The topics discussed in his work are as follows:
1. Method of fixing the laminate with RC beams. 2. Effect of temperature and frost cycles on concrete laminate bond. 3. Effect of bending and shear cracks in concrete. 4. Analytical model of beam-laminate combination. 5. Safety factor to be used for such constructions. 6. Fatigue characteristics
The main advantages of carbon fiber composite laminates have been found to be
- no corrosion and therefore, no corrosion protection is necessary - no problem of transportation as it is available in rolls - higher ultimate strength - higher Young's modulus - very good fatigue properties - low weight - endless tapes available, therefore, no joints
The main disadvantages are -Erratic plastic behavior and less ductility -susceptible to local unevenness -high cost
Meier and Kaiser ( 1991) have reported the performance of CFC laminates in post-strengthening of cracked concrete beams. The load deflection graph of a post strengthened beam has been compared with that of an unstrengthened beam in Figure 5. It was observed that a 0.3 mm thick CFC laminate has doubled the ultimate load of a 15O x 200 beam of 2m span. They also have presented an account of the failure modes in such beams. It is observed that the tensile failure of the laminate occurred suddenly with a sharp explosive snap. However, it was announced in advance by cracking sound. They stressed on the importance of an even bonding surface and guarding against shear cracks. They also have indicated the high potential of such repair work in wood and other metal structures and in prestressed girders as well.
The first repair work of a concrete bridge using CFC laminates has been carried out at Ibach Bridge, Lucerne, Switzerland (Meier and Deuring, 1991, Meier 1988). The 228m long bridge was designed as a continuous beam of span 39m Several prestressing tendons of the bridge were accidentally severed preventing the bridge to operate at its full capacity. The bridge was repaired with a 2mm thick 150mm wide CFRP laminate. It was found that the repair work became particularly easy due to the use of composite materials. Owing to its light weight 175 kg steel could be replaced by only 6.2 kg of CFC. As a result the work could be carried out from a traveling hydraulic lift and the cost of scaffolding could be avoided The composite is held in position by means of a vacuum bag, thereby avoiding pressers required in case of steel plates. Although CFC was 40 times more expensive than steel plates, it was estimated that the process saved 20% in cost. The potential or use or CFCs in suspension cables or bridges is also discussed by Meier (1991).
Saadatmanesh and Ehsani(1990) have reported experimental results on epoxy bonded GFRP plates. They have used beams strengthened with different epoxies to test the importance of forces on the mechanical behavior of the strengthened beam. It was observed that the epoxy should have sufficient stiffness and strength to transfer the shear force between the composite plate and concrete. It should also be tough enough to prevent brittle bond failure as a result of cracking of concrete. They recommended use of rubber toughened epoxies for this purpose.
Prestressing of the reinforcing laminate is advantageous for several applications. It has been observed that the prestressed laminates are effective in closing the crack in damaged structures and therefore, increase the serviceability of the strengthened structure. Prestressing also reduces the stress in the reinforcing steel. This is advantageous when the steel is weakened due to corrosion. Another significant advantage of prestressing is that it reduces the tendency of delamination at the crack front (Fig. 6).
Deuring (1993) has conducted experiments on beams of 2m and 6m span under static and dynamic loading. The prestressing favorably influenced the number and the width of cracks. Therefore, the prestressed beams had a very good fatigue behavior. He observed that the FRP sheet has no plastic reserve strength. Therefore, maximum flexural strength of the beam is obtained when the failure of the laminate occurs at the instant of plastic yielding of the steel.
Triantafillou et al (1992) have developed non-linear relationships for calculating the ultimate load of concrete beams with pre-stressed FRC post- strengthening. The expressions have been validated with experimental work. Some of the other notable research works include Shahawy et al (1996a,b).
Research on repairing masonry structures using CFRP has been reported by Schwegler (1994). Both woven fabric and unidirectional tapes connecting the to and the bottom slabs have been employed in strengthening. Theoretical work was done to develop design charts to carry out the post-strengthening of load bearing masonry walls. The durability tests carried out at IIT Bombay and by Bakis et al (2002) on the technique have been extremely encouraging.
FRC BARS AS REINFORCEMENTS IN SLABS AND BEAMS
The steel reinforcement in concrete structures is often largely responsible in early corrosion and deterioration of concrete structures The steel reinforcements are susceptible to corrosion and corrosion leads to spalling in concrete Moreover, modern scanning equipment that use magnetic interferometers require a nonmagnetic environment This has led to the development of FRC rebars that are nonmagnetic and non-corrosive in nature. However, FRC bars have much less ductility and unpredictable plastic behavior. Another major problem in FRC rebars is their lower bond strength. The bond strength is improved by mechanical anchorages and coating the surface of the bar by sand. However, the behavior of FRC bar reinforced concrete element largely depends on the bond behavior between the concrete and composite bars. (Nanni, 1992). As a result a number of researchers have investigated this aspect (Daniali 1990, Ehshani et al., 1995).
Brown and Bartholomew (1993) observed that the FRC reinforced bars behaved the same way as the steel reinforced bars. However, the FRC bars have much less elastic modulus. Therefore, deflection was the limiting criterion in case of FRC reinforced beams. FRPC bars are also used as reinforcement in slabs in the form of composite grids by Danthia et al. ( 1995) and Ahmad et al ( 1994). Dutta and Daily ( 1995) outlined typical tests that have to be carried out on grid frame and grid reinforced concrete. Banthia et al. ( 1995) compared the behavior of concrete slabs reinforced with FRPC grids to that of a slab reinforced with steel grid. The ultimate loads supported by slabs reinforced with FRPC were equal to or higher than that supported by the companion slab reinforced with steel. It was concluded that, no significant changes are needed to the various code equations when extending them to slabs reinforced with FRPC reinforcement. Ahmad et al. (1994) presented results of punching shear behavior of concrete slabs reinforced with 3D continuous carbon fiber fabric under central concentrated load. Test results revealed that the carbon fiber reinforced concrete slabs exhibited a significant non- linear behavior and reduction in stiffi1ess in the post cracking stage.
FRCs AS CABLES AND TENDONS
Corrosion problems are very severe in transportation structures, especially those exposed to marine environment. This encourages use of FRCs in bridges. The FRC cab1es, post-tension tendons and plating can be used to improve the durability of bridges. Moreover, FRC cables are much lighter than the conventional steel cables leading to lesser self weight. Therefore, muchl onger spans can be designed by using FRC cables.
Kim and Meier (1991) and Meier (1995) have reviewed the applicability of FRCs in cable stayed bridges. McKay and Erki ( 1993) have experimented on the use of aramid fiber tendons on the post-tensioning of concrete beams Meier (1987) has observed that use of FRC cables would allow tripling of limiting span of cable stayed bridges in comparison to steel wires.
FRCS AS WRAPPING ON CONCRETE ELEMENTS
The tensile strength of concrete is much less in comparison to its compressive strength As a result, even the compression members often fail due to the tensile stress that develops in the perpendicular direction of the compressive load. If such a concrete element is confined using a wrapping (Fig 7) the failure due to tensile cracks can be prevented. The compressive strength of the wrapped concrete element is several times higher than the unwrapped concrete element. Although this is known for a long time effective application of confinement could not be achieved due to a lack of suitable wrapping material. If the wrapping is torn the capacity of the element reduces dramatically. Therefore, the durability of the wrapping material is of utmost importance. In addition, the wrapping material remains exposed to environmental attack. Therefore, steel is unsuitable for this purpose. FRCs due to their non-corrosive nature offer an attractive alternative. Moreover, the light weight FRC fibers can be very easily wrapped around an old concrete column.
An exhaustive test program has been undertaken at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay to evaluate the efficacy of FRPC in structural strengthening (Mukherjee, et al., 2001) with collaboration from the Pennsylvania State University and Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, USA. A detailed account of the research is beyond the scope of the present paper. However, typical stress-strain curve of cylindrical specimens wrapped with FRPC of varying number of layers is presented in figure 8. It may be noted that with one layer of FRPC wrap the ultimate strength of the specimens increased by a factor of 2.5. The ultimate strength went on to increase up to 8 times when 8 layers of the wrap were used. The ultimate strain increased by 6 times with one layer of wrap. This feature is particularly attractive for earthquake resistant structures. Due to higher ultimate strain the ductility of the structure also increases. It may be noted that the ultimate strain of the specimens is insensitive to the number of layers of wrap. Therefore, for earthquake resistance a thin wrap that offers high ultimate strain but low stiffness is desirable. Glass fibers that have considerably lower stiffness than the carbon fibers and higher ultimate strain is desirable. The unfavorable creep behavior of glass fiber poses little adversity in earthquake resistant .applications as earthquake forces are seldom encountered. Moreover, glass fiber is much less expensive than carbon fiber. Therefore, glass fiber has been used in rehabilitation and retrofitting of structures in Gujarat.
Faza and Ganga Rao (1994) suggested wrapping around damaged concrete elements to improve the strength of these members. Li et al. (1992) developed semi- empirical expressions to predict the mechanical behavior of wrapped compression members. Wrapping can be applied to strengthen concrete beams in compression and shear. Michael et al. ( 1995) have reported a study on composite fabric wraps in concrete beams. Mirmiran and Shahaway ( 1996) have tested the strength or concrete filled hollow FRC sections for compressive strength.
APPLICATION IN INDIA
Application of FRCs in India is gaining momentum of late. One of the major applications has been in earthquake damaged structures in Gujarat (Mukherjee and Joshi, 2001). The edge FRCs enjoyed over the conventional repairing techniques is speed of execution. A severely damaged fertilizer plant has been rehabilitated using the technique. The total area of repair was around 5000 sqmt. In about forty-five days the repair was completed, and the plant was able to come back to full production within three months. All the components used in the repair were procured in India from Indian manufacturers. There is a huge potential of application of the technique in India.
CLOSING REMARKS
From the above discussion it can be observed that the fiber reinforced composites are a very attractive proposition for repair and upgradation of damaged concrete structures. However, the success of the method depends on several factors. Understanding mechanics - The mechanics of FRC is fundamentally different from other construction materials. Therefore, one needs to understand the material before its use. A large body of research work exists. However, an efficient dissemination of knowledge is of utmost importance. Availability of design methods - The design methods are already developed. However, they need wider publicity and possible inclusion in Indian Standards.
Availability of materials- GFRP is available locally in adequate quantities. CFRP needs to be imported. New production facilities will be extremely important as the use of the technique gains popularity. High cost of material- Although per Kg cost of FRCs is substantially higher than that of steel or cement the cost of repair using these materials is far cheaper, faster, durable and cleaner. Availability of technology- This repair technique needs knowledge about several new construction materials. Successful application of these materials would require fundamental understanding of the behavior of these materials Although a large research base is already available awareness in India about these materials is scant. There is a need to include these materials in basic curriculum. Durability under Indian conditions- These materials are chemically inert and show little degradation over time even in harsh conditions. Our tests show little effect of tropical Indian environment on these materials.