The Effect of FRP Strengthening of Boundary Elements in Slender RC Shear Wall

Concrete shear walls are the most common system resisting against seismic loads in the world. These elements carry the lateral loads by a combination of the axial, shear and flexural responses. Change in the seismic code requirements, subjecting intensive dynamic loads such as explosion or earthquake and other destructive effects make the shear walls weak for continuing service life. In the recent years FRP materials have attracted much interest. FRP application in retrofitting projects is appealing because of their unique properties. Nevertheless, a review on the previous studies shows that despite the squat walls, very limited analytical and/or experimental studies have been conducted on the FRP strengthening of the slender RC shear walls under monotonic loading so far. In this paper it is focused on the strengthening of boundary elements with FRP and it’s effect on the wall behavior. The finite element software is calibrated and verified using available experimental data. Nonlinear finite element analysis of reinforced concrete walls is performed using damage plasticity model and tension stiffening effects. Results of the current study show the superior effectiveness of strengthening FRP composite layers on the behavior of the concrete shear walls.