ABSTRACT
In this study, the ultimate capacity of uniaxially compressed perforated steel plates strengthened by CFRP has been studied.
2 PROBLEM DEFINITION
Ultimate capital of perforated steel plates strengthened by CFRP subjected to uniaxial compression along its longitudinal direction is considered in the study. About 36 plates were designed, and all of them possessed the following properties: (i) square shape; (ii) four edges simply supported; (iii) circular hole as if it has an opening; (iv) one layer of transverse CFRP inside and one layer of longitudinal CFRP outside in signal or both sides of the plate if it was strengthened. A perforated steel plate strengthened by CFRP is shown in Figure 1. The length and width of the plates
1 INTRODUCTION
Fiber-Reinforced Polymers (FRPs) have a high strength to weight ratios and excellent resistance to corrosion and environmental degradation. It is also very flexible and forms all kinds of shapes, and it is easy to handle during construction (Alsayed et al., 2000, Moy, 2001, Teng et al., 2002); and so, it has been widely used in the strengthening of steel structures recently (Zhao and Zhang, 2007, Teng et al., 2012).
