Strengthening against Shear

For the strengthening against shear FRP Fabrics may be assigned to existing members through the Define FRP Fabric module. Users may select the FRP Fabric from a list of the most common products found in the market, or alternatively introduce user-defined values.

The number of applied layers may also be defined, as well as spacing between the Fabrics and the Fabric width. The user may also specify the way the Fabric is wrapped around the existing member (for columns only the completely wrapped option is available while for beams there are other wrapping options including 3-sided and 2-sided wrapping while the use of mechanic anchorage is also available). Since rectangular cross sections are used the radius of rounding of the corners R may be specified, a critical parameter in the application of FRP wraps. Finally the Environmental Conversion Factor needs to be specified.

When users choose to specify user-defined values, the required information is the type of the FRP sheet (Carbon, Aramid, Glass, Basalt or Steel fibers), its laminate or dry properties, the number of direction(s) and the orientation (relatively to the longitudinal direction of the sheet) of the fibers.

Finally, FRP systems may be proposed to Seismosoft through the “Propose FRP system to Seismosoft” button. Herein, the user is asked to assign the name of the FRP system, the link where information about the product may be found and the technical properties of the FRP sheet.