Experimental study on the compressive behaviors of CFRP tube-encased concrete columns

Nine square concrete columns including 6 CFRP/ECCs and 3 concrete columns are prepared, which have cross-section of 200 mm × 200 mm and height of 600 mm. The CFRP tubes with fibers oriented at hoop direction were manufactured to have 3 or 5 layers of CFRP with 10 mm, 20 mm, or 40 mm rounding corner radii at vertical edges. A 100 mm overlap in the direction of fibers was provided to ensure proper bond. Uniaxial compression tests were conducted to investigate the compressive behavior. It is evident that the CFRP tube confinement can improve the behavior of concrete core, in terms of axial compressive strength or axial deformability. Test results show that the stress-strain behavior of CFRP/ECCs vary with different confinement parameters, such as the number of confinement layers and the rounding corner radius.