Strengthening of Elevated Slabs on Ground with Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Systems
A research is underway in the University of Texas at Arlington to develop guidelines of retrofitting methods of elevated slabs on ground (SOGs) for flood mitigation. The research studies on the behavior of SOGs before and after elevation. Also, the effectiveness of elevated SOGs strengthened with CFRP will be evaluated and compared to the ones without CFRP.
The project has three phases. The first phase is the construction of 4 elevated slabs which are 26’-4” long, 21’-6” wide and 4” thick. Four slabs consist of a slab reinforced with WWF at bottom without retrofit, a slab reinforced with WWF at center without retrofit, a slab reinforced with WWF at bottom with CFRP retrofit and a slab reinforced with WWF at center with CFRP retrofit. The second phase involved loading the slabs with water to simulate distributed live load until failure.
The last phase is to verify the results from the tests with a finite element model of the slabs generated in finite element software, ABAQUS.
Current Research Projects
Evaluation of Externally Applied FRP-Concrete Bond Strength Using Non-destructive Testing Methods
Load Test evaluation and Theoretical modeling of In-Service FRP strengthened Bridges
Strengthening of Elevated Slabs on Ground with Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Systems
Bent Cap Repair of In-Service Bridges Using FRP Laminates
Strengthening of Laterally Damaged Pre-stressed Concrete Bridge Girders with CFRP Laminates