| Fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) materials are rapidly gaining acceptance as structural materials for a range of civil engineering applications, particularly as internal tensile reinforcement for concrete beams and slabs, or as confining reinforcement for concrete columns. Until now, the majority of applications of these materials have been for bridges, where performance in fire is not a primary design consideration. There is a potentially much larger market for the use of these materials in buildings, parking garages, and infrastructure, where fire-safety is a key design criterion. However, there is currently very little information available on the behaviour of FRP materials and FRP-reinforced or wrapped concrete members in fire. This thesis presents the initial results of an ongoing study into the effects of fire on FRP-reinforced or wrapped concrete members, in an attempt to fill some of the numerous gaps in knowledge.; A detailed and comprehensive literature review is presented that provides background information on the high-temperature behaviour of FRP materials and FRP-reinforced concrete members, as well as information on fire testing procedures and objectives. The results of two (2) full-scale fire endurance tests on FRP-wrapped and insulated reinforced concrete columns are presented and discussed, and the test data are used to validate numerical models (also developed and presented herein) which can predict the behaviour of FRP-wrapped columns during fire. The numerical models are subsequently used to conduct parametric studies to investigate the effects of varying a range of parameters on the fire performance of FRP-wrapped columns, and simple fire design recommendations are presented.; Numerical models are also developed herein to predict the behaviour in fire of FRP bar-reinforced concrete slabs. The slab models are validated against fire test data available in the literature, and are subsequently used to conduct parametric studies and suggest fire design guidelines for FRP bar-reinforced concrete slabs.; It is demonstrated that FRP materials are extremely sensitive to high temperatures, although the results presented herein indicate that it is possible, through careful consideration of the numerous factors involved, and by providing supplemental fire insulation in some cases, to achieve excellent fire ratings (in excess of 5 hours) for FRP-reinforced or confined concrete members. |
