A Review of the Most Important Parameters that Influence the Reinforcement of Structures by Using the FRP Materials

According to the literature, several methods have been developed to reinforce structures in Civil Engineering while using fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) materials. This paper presents the most parameters that can influence the reinforcement of structures such as orientation, the number of layers, the width of the composite, the thickness, surface treatment and the environment. It was shown by some researchers that the number of layers increases the strength and improves the mechanical properties of reinforced elements up to a certain level of layers. Otherwise, it was confirmed by some others that the surface preparation not only improved the ultimate load capacity but also improved the adhesion between the concrete and the CFRP sheets. Other studies concluded that the influence of curing temperature could make the element more ductile at high temperatures as well as it can make the element weak at low temperatures.