Steel Tubular Beams Strengthened with CFRP: A Review

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Introduction
One of main limitations to conventional steel tubular beams behavior made up of thin sections
revolves around susceptibility of such members to local buckling. Such instability would often
take place in a thin as opposed to thick sections and impact of such local stresses within steel
may lead to lowering of the strength.
Steel sections, more specifically circular hollow sections, have been of high significance in
numerous structures (Haedir et al., 2009). A hollow structural section refers to a kind of metal
profile having a hollow tubular cross section, a term that is commonly used in the USA among
other countries which abide by the construction and engineering technology of the United States.
Steel hollow tubular cross section mostly finds their application in the skyscrapers, industrial
structures, railway stations as well as air terminal buildings among others. Under some certain
circumstances, the existing structural elements may be rendered inefficient or inadequate owing
to a change in the code of practice or an increase in the loading of structure following inclusion
of more floors.
Corrosion may as well take place leading to loss in the initial thickness as well as subsequent
decrease in carrying capacity of load. Total replacement of structure and structural members that
are no longer functioning properly tends to be impossibility and strengthening is often attained
through the attachment of a steel plate through bolting or welding again which in the end result
to an increase in the self-weight of the structure. FRP can be used an alternative strengthening.
The use of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRB) composite materials as structural
reinforcing or strengthening materials as well as repair have gained tremendous application
around the globe for the last almost two decades. The excellent qualities among them high

specific stiffness as well as weight alongside the superior durability in the environment have
rendered the materials very competitive among the materials in the industry (Zhao and Zhang,
2007). Experimental as well as analytical research have established that externally bonded
composites of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer may be used in various structural members
among them slabs, walls, beams as well as columns in enhancing the structural performance of
such members in relation to the ductility, stiffness and load carrying capacity.
Composites of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer have witnessed varying success degree in
various kinds of applications owing to their extreme flexibility, ease of handling during
construction as well as their availability in all types of shapes (Kumar and Senthil, 2016). CRFP
composite materials are on the increase of being applied in the construction industry specifically
when it comes to handling issues related with repair and structural strengthening. Among the
features of these materials that render them an ideal option for this role include:
 Very good durability under aggressive environments
 Very high ratio of stiffness to weight as well as strength to weight
Studies have demonstrated that a combination of CFRP and steel increase the structural
performance, stiffness and ductility even more. Nevertheless, there is no certainty in the
prediction of durability of steel structures strengthened using CFRP under some service
environments.