LAMINATE ANALOGY FOR COMPOSITES ENHANCED CONCRETE STRUCTURES

A new and effective method is described to design composites to repair damage or enhance the overload strength of concrete infrastructures. The method is based on laminate analogy which is derivable from compos ite mechanics and available in computer codes. It is used to simulate structural sections made from reinforced concrete which are typical in infrastructures as well as select reinforced concrete structures. The structural sections are represented by a number of layers through the thickness where different layers are used for the concrete, for the r einforcing steel in concrete, and for the composite. The reinforced co ncrete structures are represented with finite elements where the eleme nt stiffness parameters are from the structural sections which are rep resented by the laminate analogy. The load carrying capability of the structure is determined by progressive structural fracture. Results sh ow up to 40 percent improvements for damage and for overload enhanceme nt with relatively small laminate thickness for the structural section s and up to three times for the composite enhanced select structures ( arch and dome).