Enhancing Capacity and Ductility of Reinforced Concrete Column by Partially Wrapped Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer

This study presents the results of an experimental investigation of a cylindrical reinforced concrete (RC) column externally strengthened with Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer (NRFP) using abaca fibers through a partially wrapped method. The cylindrical test specimen was formed with a diameter of 205 mm and a height of 615 mm, reinforced with six-10 mm steel bars as longitudinal reinforcement and an 8 mm spiral as transverse reinforcement. The RC column was strengthened partially with an NFRP sheet (CS-NFRP). The monotonic concentric compressive axial loading was applied and the results were compared with an un-strengthened column (NC-Normal). The test results indicate that the axial capacity of CS-NFRP increased by 13.79% compared to NC-Normal. Moreover, the partially wrapped NFRP enhanced the ductility of the column by 50% which indicates the effectiveness of using abaca fibers-based NFRP for column strengthening.