Basalt FRP rods for reinforcement and repair of timber

Limited research has been undertaken into the use of basalt fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) materials for the strengthening and repair of structural timber elements. This paper describes an experimental test programme in which the flexural performance of low-grade glued laminated timber was reinforced using bonded-in basalt FRP rods. Tension test results show that basalt FRP rods compare extremely well to the mechanical characteristics of glass FRP rods. Strengthened and repaired beams exhibited considerable ductility in contrast to brittle tension behaviour of the unreinforced sections. With the use of a modest reinforcement percentage of 1.4% strategically located in circular routed out grooves at the soffit of the beam, mean stiffness enhancements of 8.4% and 10.3% for the global and local measurements were achieved respectively and a mean improvement in the ultimate moment capacity of 23% was achieved in comparison to the unreinforced glulam beams. The distance of the reinforcement to the neutral axis was shown to be highly influential on the mechanical enhancements. The use of basalt FRP rods is seen to be highly effective as a repair technology for damaged timber elements. Strain profile readings from the beams which included the reinforcement demonstrated improved utilisation of the compression characteristics of the timber. In all testing, a good quality bond is reported between the basalt FRP and wood. There exists significant potential for the development of environmentally friendly engineered structural elements by combining timber based products with other natural materials such as basalt fibre reinforced polymers.