Retraining local and global buckling behavior of steel plastic hinges using CFRP

Carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites have been shown to be particularly well suited for external strengthening of reinforced concrete members. However, there is limited information about how they can be used to strengthen steel structures that are susceptible to local and global instabilities. This paper discusses test results of full-scale steel flexural specimens subjected to reversed cyclic loading, some of which are wrapped with CFRP in the plastic hinge region. The main variables investigated are lateral bracing, to study the effect of CFRP wrapping on local buckling and lateral torsional buckling, wrapping scheme, and number of layers of fibers. The test results show that application of CFRP in the plastic hinge region of flexural members has substantial benefits. In particular, the CFRP wraps can increase the size of the yielded plastic hinge region, slow down the occurrence of local buckling, and delay lateral torsional buckling. These benefits reduce strain demands in the critical plastic hinge region and substantially improve energy dissipation capacity within the plastic hinge region.

Research highlights
► There is limited information about how CFRP can strengthen thin walled steel structures.
► We show test results of cyclically loaded full-scale steel flexural specimens wrapped with CFRP.
► We investigated local and global buckling, wrapping scheme, and number of fiber layers.
► Our test results show that application of CFRP has substantial benefits.
► A key benefit is that it reduces strain demands in the critical plastic hinge region.