Abstract
An experimental study was conducted to compare various composite systems with different fibres (E-glass and carbon) in two different thermoplastic matrices (PPS, PEEK) for their strengthening efficiency for wrapped concrete columns. The results indicated that the use of E-glass fibres within a polyphenylenesulfide matrix to externally reinforce concrete columns is quite effective. The carbon fibre PEEK based system does not show much improvement in the load carrying capacity. The thickness of wrap/radius of concrete column-ratio also has an influence on the strengthening efficiency. For example ten layers of glass fibre/PPS-tapes resulted in a five fold improvement of the compressive strength of the non-reinforced concrete. Predamaged samples with the same amount of reinforcement were still 4.5 times stronger than the undamaged, non-reinforced concrete.