Compressive behavior of concrete confined with GFRP tubes and steel spirals

This paper presents the experimental results and analytical modeling of the axial compressive behavior of concrete cylinders confined by both glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) tube and inner steel spiral reinforcement (SR). The concrete structure is termed as GFRP-SR confined concrete. The number of GFRP layers (1, 2, and 3 layers) and volumetric ratios of SR (1.5% and 3%) were the experimental variables. Test results indicate that both GFRP tube and SR confinement remarkably increase the ultimate compressive strength, energy dissipation capacity, and ductility of concrete. The volumetric ratio of SR has a more pronounced influence on the energy dissipation capacity of confined concrete with more GFRP layers. In addition, a stress-strain model is presented to predict the axial compressive behavior of GFRP-SR confined concrete. Comparisons between the analytical results obtained using the proposed model and experimental results are also presented.