Rehabilitation of corroded steel beam with BFRP and CFRP fabrics

In Canada, USA, and other countries, a large number of steel structures such as steel beams, steel trusses, and steel columns have been faced with various deteriorations such as corrosion and cracks. Hence, the need for development and validation of cheaper, greener, efficient, and innovative rehabilitation techniques for these deficient steel structures is on the rise. Several research studies were conducted on rehabilitation of corroded steel beams using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) fabrics. However, only a very limited studies were undertaken to determine the effectiveness of basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) fabrics for flexural rehabilitation of steel beams. Further, no studies on the rehabilitation of shear deficient steel beams have been undertaken using BFRP. Hence, this study was designed and carried out to investigate feasibility and effectiveness of rehabilitation technique for steel beams with deficiency in flexural and shear strengths. Both CFRP and BFRP fabrics were used to develop a new rehabilitation technique. The study was completed using both experimental tests and numerical method using finite element method. The study found that both CFRP and BFRP fabrics are able to restore elastic stiffness, yield strength, and ultimate load capacity of a flexural deficient steel beam, however the BFRP rehabilitated beams experienced better behaviour such as more ductility. In addition, the study showed using BFRP fabrics in appropriate orientation (45 degree) could be the optimum technique to completely restoration of the web thickness loss. The study also concluded that the basalt fabric offers a much cheaper and green alternative to other fabrics like carbon fabric