FRP reinforcement of timber structures

• Two-part, cold-cure epoxy adhesives are most suitable for on-site bonding.
• Careful surface preparation is essential.
• Design approaches for flexural and shear strengthening of timber beams are presented.
• Practical guidelines for on-site bonding are given.
• Approaches to bondline delamination modeling is described.

Timber engineering has advanced over recent decades to offer an alternative to traditional materials and methods. The bonding of fibre reinforced plastics (FRP) with adhesives to timber structures for repair and strengthening has many advantages. However, the lack of established design rules has strongly restrained the use of FRP strengthening in many situations, where these could be a preferable option to most traditional techniques. A significant body of research has been carried out in recent years on the performance of FRP reinforced timber and engineered wood products. This paper gives a State of the Art summary of material formulations, application areas, design approaches and quality control issues for practical engineers to introduce on-site bonding of FRP to timber as a new way in design for structural repair and rehabilitation.