THEME 3 OVERVIEW

Structural Strengthening and Rehabilitation
With FRPs

Director: Dr. Kenneth W. Neale, Université de Sherbrooke

PROJECTS IN THEME 3

Theme 3 addresses the serious issue of upgrading and rehabilitating Canada's civil engineering infrastructure using new materials and construction techniques. Its primary research objective is the development and field implementation of advanced technologies for the rehabilitation and strengthening of civil engineering structures. Key elements in this theme are the corrosion-resistant, lightweight fibre reinforced polymers (FRPs) currently making major breakthroughs in civil engineering applications. FRP rehabilitation is a cost-effective, state-of-the-art technology in the repair and strengthening of structures. During Phase I of ISIS Canada’s mandate, the effectiveness of FRP retrofit techniques for concrete, timber and masonry structures was clearly demonstrated through research and a large number of field demonstration projects.

However, despite their obvious advantages, rehabilitation techniques using FRPs have still had rather limited applications in Canada. Reservations exist primarily because of unresolved questions concerning the performance, long-term cost-effectiveness and durability of FRP retrofit techniques in severe Canadian climatic conditions. Theme 3 focuses on those aspects of performance, durability and corrosion that are of particular relevance to Canada.

The primary outcome of the research program will be to provide answers to outstanding practical questions related to the use of FRP strengthening and rehabilitation techniques. These questions are related to the mechanical behaviour of FRP-retrofitted structures, to the design and development of safe and economical retrofitting systems, to the durability and long-term performance of FRP rehabilitations in harsh Canadian climates, and to issues related to seismic upgrading of Canada's infrastructure.

The research of Theme 3 is divided into three focus areas to enhance the efficiency and collaboration of the overall integrated research program.  Laboratory work and field demonstration projects carried out in connection with this theme are integrated with the other themes, particularly Theme 1, to take advantage of new developments in sensor technology and structural health monitoring.  With the multitude of structures that have to be rehabilitated across Canada, the results of Theme 3 research are likely to achieve the greatest savings in the infrastructure sector in the short term.  This, in turn, provides the basis upon which acceptance of the technologies developed in Theme 2 for new structures is likely to be achieved.