FEM investigation of concrete silos damaged and reinforced externally with CFRP

Abstract

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