Published Paper Details:

The concept of externally reinforcing damaged reinforced concrete members to restore their strength is well known today. Depending on the severity of the damage, the component is externally modified using methods such as cross-sectional enlargement, external panel bonding, external pre stressing, casting, and fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. This article describes FRP composite technique that is to apply FRP composites in fabric/tape form using adhesive on defects like cracks in structural members. Apart from retrofitting, this process can also be used to add strength or increase the load-bearing capacity of an element without increasing the section size. Fabrics made from carbon, glass and basalt fibers are generally used as external reinforcement. Each gives different results as per their characteristics, magnitude and type of load withstanding, type and form of fibre fabric used for that and also as per different wrapping patterns. For this purpose, the study considers structural reinforced concrete beams wrapped with different FRP composites fabric in different patterns and tested under four-point loading system as comparison criteria. The main focus of the paper revolves around basalt fiber fabric, and whether it is a better option as a retrofit material compared to others.