Eythor Rafn Thorhallsson

Basalt Fibers as New Material for Reinforcement and Confinement of Concrete

Basalt Fibre Reinforced Polymer (BFRP) is a new material in civil engineering and has shown to be a promising material for infrastructure strengthening. In comparison to carbon fiber, glass fiber and other composites, it has some advantages such as high-temperature resistance and low cost. At the Structural and Composite Laboratory at Reykjavik University (SEL) several research projects involving strengthening concrete beams and columns by using FRP materials have been on-going in recent years. These tests have shown improvements in strength and durability compared to unstrengthened concrete members. The benefit of using basalt fiber or other FRP material is that they are non-corrosive, which is a good choice for reinforcing concrete structure exposed to de-icing salts, for examples in bridge decks and parking garage elements. Also for concrete exposed to marine environment, such as seawalls, water breaks and buildings or other structures located near a waterfront. Two research projects are presented in this paper; a test of prestressed concrete with internal basalt rods instead of steel and a test of columns strengthened by wrapping fibre-reinforced composite sheets around the columns to increase their strength and ductility. These experimental tests show increasing strength and ductile for both the beams and the columns.

GREENBAS : Sustainable Fibres from Basalt Mining

The GREENBAS project is about the feasibility of producing continuous basalt fibres from Icelandic basalt. The project was made possible with support from NordMin, with the aim to develop the Nordi ...

Dynamic Characteristics of Multi-Story Reinforced Concrete Buildings

Having a realistic estimate of structural parameters, such as natural frequency and damping is important for design purposes. In this study, available wind and earthquake induced acceleration data from four multi-story reinforced concrete buildings are utilized to examine structural behaviour and system parameters. The buildings measurement systems are described and the recorded structural response data presented. The data stems from two different sources of excitation, i.e. wind and earthquake, and are recorded for various excitation levels and environmental conditions. System identification analyses of the buildings are carried out applying previously verified parametric methods to the recorded data. The natural frequencies and critical damping ratios established from the recordings are compared to values estimated using design guidelines and international data compilations for reinforced concrete structures of similar type. Considerable variability is discovered between the different estimation formulas and the observed natural frequencies of the buildings are found to lie at the upper limit of the prediction formula.