Carlos Chastre

Five experimental cyclic tests were carried out on reinforced concrete rectangular columns with rounded corners, different condition (new and damaged) and different strengthening systems: that included confinement through carbon fiber (CFRP) jackets, anchor dowels, high strength repair mortar and external longitudinal stainless steel bars. Lateral load - displacement relationship, energy dissipation, ductility and curvature results were analyzed together with two different damage assessment classifications. The overall evaluation concludes that the use of external confinement with CFRP on RC columns is viable and of effective performance enhancement alone and combined with other techniques. Damaged columns that were retrofitted showed an increased load capacity up to 20% along with good ductile behavior within the limits of the US, European, Canadian and Japanese codes, with minor/moderate degree of damage at 1% drift ratio and moderate degree of damage at 2% drift ratio.