Four types of 1.2 m square panels were subjected to blast to investigate the performance of new walls: reinforced concrete (RC) panels; fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) panels without additional reinforcement; FRC panels reinforced with steel bars; and RC panels reinforced with glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars.
However due to their well-detailed reinforcement, all panels exhibited only a relatively gradual strength and stiffness degradation and in no case did any panel suffer from sudden shear failure.
Z-fibersTM can also be used for the local reinforcement of composite panels to reduce the incidence of edge delaminations as well as the reinforcement of sandwich panels to minimize the likelihood of skin peeling and debonding.
A database of interior beam-column connections is constructed from previous experimental studies and the influence of transverse reinforcements in joint panel and axial force in columns are investigated.
Natural fibre-reinforced polymer composites have found increased favour of late, particularly within the automotive industry where Kenaf is often used alongside flax, hemp and jute as a reinforcement for car panels door trims and parcel shelves, for example.
A number of cases are considered and discussed (shear reinforcement of wall panels, crack stitching, transversal connection of multi-leaf walls and retrofit of towers and chimneys) and conclusions are drawn from the reported studies.
The reinforced steep slope (RSS) was reinforced with polymeric material with soil bags as the facing material, and the mechanically stabilised earth (MSE) wall was reinforced with metallic reinforcement with precast concrete panels as the facing material.
Examined parameters for joint shear behaviour were grouped by material property, joint panel geometry, reinforcement confinement, column axial load, and reinforcement bond condition.
Testing included a control beam and beams strengthened with the following FRP reinforcement layouts: (1) continuous rod panel, (2) spliced panel (two half-length panels with a 150 mm finger joint), (3) spliced panel anchored at ends with CFRP fabric, (4) continuous CFRP laminate, and (5) lap-spliced CFRP laminate system.
Core inserts in sandwich panels substitute parts of the original core material in a sandwich element, and the main purpose of the core inserts is to supply a local reinforcement of the sandwich panel for a subsequent introduction of the external loads.
