Design model of concrete for circular columns confined with AFRP

The advantages of confining reinforced concrete are well-known, making it possible to increase both strength and ductility of structural elements. On this matter, the application of fibre reinforced polymer sheets has been a subject of increasing interest. Various constitutive models of confined concrete have been proposed, the majority of which calibrated with results of experimental tests using mainly carbon fibre composites. In this paper, a design-oriented model is proposed for the prediction of the axial response of confined concrete columns, calibrated exclusively with the results of tests using aramid fibre reinforced polymers. The proposed model parameters were determined based on experimental tests reported in the published literature. The new model is compared with a design-oriented model calibrated with different fibre based composites and with an analysis-oriented model. This assessment was carried out using existing experimental results as well as two specimens confined with aramid fibre composites tested by the authors. The results of the proposed model correlate well with the experimental results, being generally more accurate than the other two models considered.