Testing Protocols and Procedures for Undertaking Fire Resistance Tests on Concrete Structures Incorporating Fiber-Reinforced Polymers

Abstract

Fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) are often incorporated as internal (primary) reinforcement in new concrete constructions or as external (secondary) reinforcement in retrofitting and strengthening of existing concrete structures. Under fire conditions, the response of FRP-incorporated concrete structures are altered due to the presence of FRPs; thus, their fire performance is different from that of concrete structures with conventional metallic reinforcement. However, the fire resistance of these FRP-incorporated structural members continues to be evaluated through standard fire resistance tests, which are similar to conventional steel and concrete structural members. Despite the complexity of this testing approach and its drawbacks, standard fire testing remains a cornerstone in evaluating FRP-incorporated concrete structural members. Thus, this paper sheds more light on the fire testing procedure and discusses the distinctive factors that differentiate the fire performance of FRP-incorporated concrete structures from that of conventional concrete structures and the need for additional provisions to test such structures. To address the current shortcomings, a set of additional testing protocols and procedures for undertaking fire resistance tests on FRP-incorporated concrete structural members are presented. The performance criteria to be applied to evaluate the failure of FRP-RC structural members under fire conditions are discussed.