| Fiber reinforced plastic and fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) materials are becoming more widely used and accepted in the repair and retrofit of existing structures, and have limited applications for new construction. This thesis identifies FRP's characteristics, including its properties and behavior, its current applications, how to design with FRP, and research being done for FRP's further development.;FRP itself is a composite material made of fibers and resins which was first developed in the 1930s. The fibers provide structural strength, and the resins help to distribute forces within the FRP and protect the system from moisture and corrosion.;FRP can be used for retrofit, rehabilitation, and repair of existing structures, or in new construction. Structures are most often retrofit with FRP using externally bonded FRP laminates to provide flexural strength, shear strength, or confinement for service loading and seismic loading. FRP can also be applied externally to prevent areas prone to corrosion or environmental damage because it is air tight, waterproof, and corrosion-resistant. FRP can be used as a composite with concrete internally in the form of FRP reinforcing bars for new construction. These sections will not corrode or spall due to the noncorrosive properties of FRP compared to conventional reinforcing steel. FRP can also be molded or pultruded into sections used as composites with concrete, or sections made exclusively of FRP. These sections have never been used for large scale projects, and typically have been constructed for research purposes by various state departments of transportation.;Case studies of several types of FRP applications are presented and investigated in this thesis to determine its anticipated benefits and limitations, and conclusions and recommendations are presented, regarding the use of FRP materials. |
