Seismic strengthening of precast RC wall panels using FRP composites

Abstract

The research work investigated addresses the seismic behavior of precast reinforced concrete wall panels. Among the objectives of the study were the investigation of the seismic performance of the wall specimens, as built openings and cut-out opening effects on the response characteristics, FRP strengthening using various methods in order to establish the most convenient solutions, shear strength estimations using design code previsions and numerical analysis. The experimental program consisted in eleven quasi-static cyclic tests on near-full scale wall specimens. The experimental variables considered in the current research refer to the opening type and dimensions, and the strengthening considerations. The cut-out opening effect on the shear strength, stiffness and energy dissipation rate was found to be significant, whereas the experimental results show an equal to or higher performance of the strengthened specimens compared to the reference once in therms of load bearing capacity, stiffness and energy dissipation capacity.