Durability of FRP in concrete ? current specifications and a new approach

The existing design codes and guidelines in Japan, Canada, the USA and Norway are summarised and compared. A new approach to durability specification for FRP in concrete, emerging from the work of fib Task Group 9.3 is also presented. This has been designed to take account of specific environmental aggressivities, a concept that is already familiar to engineers designing concrete for durability. The philosophy adopted identifies the main aggressive situations and introduces a series of stress reduction factors to account for potential deterioration of FRP in these environments. The factors also allow for the relative resistance of different FRP types to the various aggressive environments and the desired design life of the structure. This approach is therefore considerably more flexible and less conservative than existing methodologies in current international design codes.