Properties evaluation of fiber reinforced polymers and their constituent materials used in structures – A review

Abstract

Competition in civil engineering markets usually imposes low-cost, low-density and environmentally resistant materials with minimum maintenance and extended service life features to withstand the undesired sever loading and aggressive environmental conditions. As a result, using advanced composite materials as reinforcing for many different structures has been developed acceptably in past decades through new construction and rehabilitation applications. “Fiber reinforced polymers” as composite materials are powerful strengthening technique for various structural applications and have been the main focus for many researchers in the latest years due to their aforementioned properties. FRPs technique has been successfully implemented for strengthening bridges, buildings, tunnels, silos, tanks, and underground infrastructures. FPRs have been conducted as high-performance materials owing to their advantages including light-weight, fatigue resistance, high tensile strength, anti-corrosion, and thermal insulation. This paper intends to review the design of FRP composites and the characteristics of their constituent materials. This review also provides a brief information about the potential of FRPs as an alternative to steel reinforcement in concrete structural members by providing evaluation of the mechanical properties of FRP composite materials in terms of compressive, shear, flexural and tensile strength against extreme loading and environmental conditions.