Fibre composites pile rehabilitation and concrete formwork jacket: concept development and finite element analysis

Fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites offer an extremely versatile option to strengthen or rehabilitate existing structures in harsh marine environment. However, most of the current composite repair systems are limited to applications in easy-to-assess sections or portions of the structure only at a certain depth underwater and requires longer time for people to install and consequently, work underwater. This paper presents the concept development of a new type of FRP jacket and the preliminary evaluation of the potential of this composite repair system for pile rehabilitation and concrete formwork. The novelty of this fibre composite strengthening system is that it is quick and safe to install due to the easy-fit and self-locking mechanical joint technology developed and patented by Joinlox. This paper focuses on the analysis and evaluation of the capacity and behaviour of an innovative FRP jacket system subjected to internal pressure using Strand7 finite element (FE) software to verify the practicability of the concept. Comparison with full-scale testing showed that the FE simulations can reasonably predict the expansion behaviour and failure of the FRP jacket.