Theoretical model for slender FRP-confined circular RC columns

An important application of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites is to provide confinement to reinforced concrete (RC) columns to enhance their load-carrying capacity. However, this application is generally restricted to short columns as existing design guidelines do not contain provisions for the design of FRP jackets for slender columns. This situation has been due to both the scarcity of test data and the lack of rigorous theoretical studies into the behavior of slender FRP-confined RC columns. This paper presents a theoretical model for slender FRP-confined circular RC columns based on the numerical integration method; Lam and Teng’s stress–strain model is employed to describe the behavior of FRP-confined concrete in the column. Predictions from the theoretical column model are compared with existing test results, which demonstrates that the theoretical model is reasonably accurate in reproducing the experimental results of FRP-confined circular RC columns. These comparisons also demonstrate the need to conduct careful tests on large-scale columns to eliminate some uncertainties associated with the existing test data to enable a more conclusive verification of the proposed theoretical column model.

► A theoretical model for slender FRP-confined circular RC columns is established.
► The model is reasonably accurate in predicting experimental column strengths.
► The effectiveness of FRP confinement decreases as column slenderness increases.
► The effect of eccentricity on FRP confinement effectiveness needs further research.