Experimental and numerical study on short eccentric columns strengthened by textile-reinforced concrete under sustaining load

Abstract

For the eccentric compression structures which cannot be strengthened by wrap method, this paper presents an experimental and numerical study on flexural strengthening by applying textile reinforced concrete at the tensile face. Seven short columns were constructed and tested under eccentric load. One of the columns did not receive any strengthening and was used as the control column, whereas the rest six were externally upgraded by textile-reinforced concrete layers. The main parameters taken into account covered: (a) type of mortar, (b) preload level, and (c) number of textile-reinforced concrete layers. Besides the experimental program, a numerical investigation utilizing non-linear finite element analysis was carried out and a good agreement was obtained between the experimental and numerical results. Further, the numerical analysis was extended to additional cases to deepen the understanding of flexural-enhancing mechanism . It is concluded that textile-reinforced concrete substantially increases the flexural capacity of the eccentric compression columns; the more the textile layer, the greater the gain. However, the preload has an apparently adverse influence on the strengthening effectiveness, as it causes the strain loss of the textile; the bigger the preload level, the more the loss.