Performance of a natural fibre reinforced polymer-concrete bridge pier in earthquakes

Glass or carbon fibre reinforced polymers are extensively used in the automobile and the aerospace industries. However, in civil infrastructure their usage is mainly limited to retrofitting, because synthetic fibres are expensive. Steel is heavy, expensive and subject to corrosion. Instead of steel reinforcement in civil structures the usage of natural materials will reduce the total mass and cost of the structures and circumvent the long-term problem of corrosion. In this paper flax fibre reinforced polymer (FFRP) and coconut fibre reinforced concrete (CFRC) are investigated. Because of the usage of less mass the corrosion-free composite structures will experience less effect of dynamic loads and require less running maintenance. The seismic performance of a simple bridge pier made of FFRP-CFRC composite is presented. The earthquake loading is simulated by a shake table. The results indicate that the new composite has a potential for becoming resilient construction materials for future structures