Study on size effect of fibre reinforced polymer retrofitted reinforced concrete beam–column connections under cyclic loading

Abstract

Studies related to size effect are crucial for reliable assessment of behaviour of structural components subjected to dynamic loadings. The available theories of material behaviour that predict size effects are receiving increasing attention in the technical literature nowadays. This paper presents a study on size effect of fibre reinforced polymer retrofitted reinforced concrete beam–column connections based on experimental investigation under displacement controlled cyclic loading. Three different sizes of geometrically similar specimens have been considered to explore the possible existence of size effect. It was observed that the experimental results corroborate closely the size effect law proposed by Bazănt in all the cases studied. A parameter, energy dissipation of specimens per unit volume was introduced and its correlations with different drift angles for different sizes of the specimen exhibit the existence of size effect. Comparisons were also made among the tests results of control and retrofitted specimens in terms of gain in ultimate load carrying capacity and existence of size effect was distinctly observed.