Performance of RC Walls with Openings Strengthened by Fiber Reinforced Polymers: An Experimental and Theoretical Investigation

Abstract

Redesigning buildings to improve their space efficiency and allow changes in use is often essential during their service lives to comply with shifts in living standards and functional demands. This may require the introduction of new openings in elements e.g. walls, which inevitably reduces their structural performance, and hence necessitates repair or strengthening. Here the authors report an experimental investigation of the effectiveness of fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP)-based strengthening for restoring the axial capacity of a solid reinforced concrete wall after cutting openings. Nine half-scale specimens, designed to represent typical wall panels in residential buildings with and without door-type openings,were tested to failure. FRP-confinement and mechanical anchorages increased the axial capacity of walls with small and large openings (which had 25% and 50% reductions in cross-sectional area, respectively) by 34-50% and 13-27%, to 85-94.8% and 56.5-63.4% of their pre-cutting capacity, respectively. Current design models are assessed against experimentally obtained capacities.