ABSTRACT
Corrosion damage of steel tendons in a prestressed concrete member significantly influences the performance of the member. Various environmental factors contribute to the corrosion of steel tendons, for example, chloride, freezing-and-thawing, and temperature (Meta & Gerwick 1982; Sherman et al. 1996). Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) tendons may provide superior durability to conventional steel tendons. FRP tendons consist of unidirectional fibers embedded in a matrix resin. The resins are usually thermosetting and epoxy is widely used. The non-metallic reinforcement provides a number of benefits, namely, favorable strength-to-weight ratio, good resistance to chemicals, low relaxation, and outstanding fatigue resistance (Grace & Abdel-Sayed 2000). Typically, two types of fibers are used for prestressed concrete applications, such as aramid fibers and carbon fibers. Carbon FRP (CFRP) provides higher strength and modulus in comparison to aramid FRP (AFRP), whereas the material cost of CFRP is more expensive than that of AFRP. Therefore, in order to use the structural advantages of FRPs with reasonable material costs, AFRP tendons may be recommended for prestressed concrete members.
