Experimental investigation of the fire performance of circular CFRP-wrapped RC columns

This paper investigates the fire performance of circular Reinforced Concrete (RC) columns wrapped with Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) systems and fire-insulation. Four columns were fabricated and exposed to fire according to ASTM E119 standards for 130 minutes. The columns varied in the number of CFRP layers used and the presence of the fire insulation. All columns had the same length, concrete dimensions, and reinforcement. The columns were exposed to fire inside a full-scale furnace to simulate actual fire scenarios. The temperature readings at different locations within the section were obtained using thermocouples to plot temperature-time curves. The test results showed that the fireproofed columns had 68% lower temperature measurements than those without fireproofing throughout the fire test. The fire insulation layer maintained the CFRP temperature below the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the epoxy resin of the CFRP system for 20 minutes. Furthermore, it was noticed that the CFRP layers did not contribute to any fire isolation since the temperature measurements inside the wrapped and the unwrapped columns were almost identical.