The
use of Fiber
Reinforced Polymer wrapping technique has been extensively
studied; in particular, the behavior
of confined elements of circular
cross-sections subjected to pure axial loads has been studied. However, the
available models are based on small-scale specimens. Limited studies are found
for the cases of prismatic members, especially on large-size ones. To analyze
the behavior of axially loaded large-size
Reinforced Concrete (RC) columns
confined by means of Carbon FRP (CFRP) wrapping, a test matrix was designed to
investigate the effect of different variables, such as the geometry of the
specimen (circular, square, and rectangular), the area aspect ratio, the side
aspect ratio, and a heightto- width aspect ratio. A total of 22 specimens were
divided into six series of three specimens each and two series of two
specimens. The largest column tested had a cross-sectional area of 0.8 m2 (9 ft2)
and the smallest one an area of 0.1 m2 (1
ft2). The experimental results
are compared and contrasted with current available data on reinforced concrete
specimens with one minimum dimension of the cross-section of 300 mm (12 in).
This evaluation allowed concluding and confirming that among circular and
square specimens of the same cross-sectional area, the confinement effect of
the FRP is less effective for the latter. It was observed that within specimens
of circular and prismatic cross-sections with size-aspect-ratio less or equal
than 2.0, the size effect could be negligible.