ABSTRACT
In recent years, fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have found increasingly wide applications in civil engineering, both in the retrofit of existing structures and in newconstruction. FRPcomposites possess several advantages over steel, including their high strength-to-weight ratio andgood corrosion resistance. As a result, the use of FRP composites as externally bonded reinforcement for the retrofit of structures has become very popular in recent years (Teng et al. 2002). These same advantages can also be exploited in new construction, and indeed a large amount of research around the world is currently under way examining the performance of various forms of structures made of FRP composites alone (i.e. all FRP structures) or FRP composites in combination with other materials (i.e. hybrid structures). Examples include FRP bridge decks, concrete-filled FRP tubes as columns and piles, and FRP cables.
