Seismic retrofitting of rectangular bridge columns with composite straps

Behavior of typical rectangular bridge columns with substandard design details for seismic forces was investigated. The poor performance of this type of column attested to the need for effective and economical seismic upgrading techniques. A method utilizing fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites to retrofit existing bridge columns is investigated in this paper. High-strength FRP straps are wrapped around the column in the potential plastic hinge region to increase confinement and to improve the behavior under seismic forces. Five rectangular columns with different reinforcement details were constructed and tested under reversed cyclic loading. Two columns were not retrofitted and were used as control specimens so that their hysteresis response could be compared with those for retrofitted columns. The results of this study indicated that significant improvement in ductility and energy absorption capacity can be achieved as a result of this retrofitting technique.