Finite Element Analysis of Axial Compression Steel Members Strengthened with Unbonded CFRP Laminates

This paper presented a non-linear finite element (FE) analysis to investigate the potential of unbonded carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) strengthening in improving the axial compression performance of steel members. The FE model was firstly developed and validated against experimental works. Four parameters considered in the parametric study were the number of CFRP layers, CFRP length, slenderness ratio, and elastic modulus of CFRP. It was confirmed that the unbonded CFRP strengthening method is effective at enhancing the load-carrying capacity as well as delaying the overall buckling of the axial steel members. The strength increase is highly affected by the first three parameters. In addition, the method of an equivalent slenderness ratio can be used for strength design.