Adhesively Bonded FRP Composites for Strengthening of RC Structures: Recent Advances

Bonding fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites to reinforced concrete (RC) structures has been accepted as a structurally-effective and cost-efficient strengthening and repair method. Research and development on this technique started in the Kliger et al.,.Eur J Wood Prod 74:319–330, 2016s and a great deal of effort has been made to study different behavioral aspects of FRP bonded concrete structures ever since, whose results have been reflected in several design codes and guidelines. Despite the extensive research, there is still knowledge gaps limiting the application of FRP materials in infrastructure. Long-term performance and uncertainty related to environmental durability and poor structural behavior at elevated temperature are among the most critical barriers. There are also issues related to debonding and how to increase the strengthening effect by means of using prestressed FRP laminates. This paper presents a review of the most recent works on FRP bonded RC structures related to abovementioned aspects conducted by different research groups in Sweden, Italy, and UAE.