Regular Article

FEM investigation of concrete silos damaged and reinforced externally with CFRP

¹ Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering Laboratory, Badji Mokhtar University, PO Box 12, 23000 Annaba, Algeria
² Mohamed Cherif Messaadia University, PO Box 1553, Annaba Road, 41000 Souk-Ahras, Algeria
³ Senior Lecturer, Research Laboratory on Industrial Risks, Control and Safety, Badji Mokhtar University, PO Box 12, 23000 Annaba, Algeria
⁴ Professor, Civil Engineering Laboratory, Badji Mokhtar University, PO Box 12, 23000 Annaba, Algeria
⁵ Professor, Research Laboratory of Advanced Technologies in Mechanical Production, Badji Mokhtar University, PO Box 12, 23000 Annaba, Algeria

^* e-mail: kersihe18@gmail.com

Received: 28 July 2017
Accepted: 9 October 2017

Abstract

The present work investigates the reinforcement of concrete wheat-grain silos under initial damage. The reinforcement is achieved by mounting bands of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) on the external walls of the silo. 4 modes of reinforcement are adapted according to the width of the band, the gap between two bands, the height of reinforcement and the number of layers achieved through banding. Analytical analyses were conducted using the Reimbert method and the Eurocode 1 Part 4 method, as well as numerically through the finite element software Abaqus. Results show that the normal pressure reaches a peak value when approaching the silo hopper. Initial damage in a concrete silo was first determined using a 3D geometrical model, while the damage analyses were conducted to optimize the CFRP reinforcement by mounting 2 CFRP bands close together above and below the cylinder–hopper joint. Increasing the number of banding layers could produce better performance as the damage was slightly decreased from 0.161 to 0.152 for 1 and 4 layers respectively.