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CFRP strengthening

CFRP structural strengthening

Carbon fibre adds capacity in millimetres where a concrete enlargement would need hundreds — without taking the structure out of service for months.

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Structures get asked to do things they were not drawn for. A plant room becomes a storage floor. A car park takes heavier vehicles than the code of its day assumed. An opening is cut through a slab and the load path around it no longer works. Corrosion takes section away and the remaining steel is no longer enough.

The traditional answer is to enlarge the member in concrete. That means formwork, curing time, significant added dead load and a structure out of use for weeks. Carbon fibre reinforced polymer bonded to the surface adds tensile capacity in a few millimetres, at a fraction of the weight and the downtime.

Methods

Plate bonding

Pre-cured CFRP laminate bonded to the tension face of a slab or beam with structural epoxy. The efficient solution where the strengthening is one-directional and the surface is flat and accessible.

Fabric wrapping

Dry or pre-impregnated carbon fabric applied wet and cured in place. It follows curved and irregular geometry, which makes it the method for column confinement, beam shear strengthening and anywhere a rigid plate will not sit.

Execution controls

  • Substrate preparation to the specified roughness and soundness
  • Pull-off testing of the prepared substrate before any fibre is applied
  • Recorded ambient temperature, humidity and dew point at application
  • Resin mixing by weight, with batch records
  • Lap lengths, fibre orientation and anchorage as drawn
  • Protective and fire-rated overcoating where the specification requires it

Materials and approvals

We are a Sika certified applicator and hold approvals from Fischer and Fosroc. Our technical lead holds advanced composite certification from the United States and Canada.

Design, stated plainly. Strengthening schemes are produced on the material manufacturer’s own design software and reviewed by their technical support. Structural design certification is issued through a Bahrain-licensed structural engineering office that reviews and stamps the calculations. We execute strengthening works to a stamped design; we do not self-certify structural design.

Standards we work to

  • ACI 440.2R
  • fib Bulletin 14
  • TR 55
  • ASTM D7522
  • ISO 10406-2
  • EN 1504-4

Common questions

What clients ask before awarding

Do you provide the strengthening design?
The scheme is developed on the material manufacturer’s design software and reviewed by their technical support. Structural design certification is issued through a Bahrain-licensed structural engineering office that reviews and stamps the calculations. We execute to that stamped design and do not self-certify structural design.
How much capacity can CFRP add?
It depends on the existing section, the reinforcement already present and the failure mode being addressed. CFRP adds tensile capacity efficiently but cannot increase the compressive capacity of a slender member or fix a shear-deficient connection on its own. The assessment comes before the proposal.
How long does the structure need to be out of use?
Far less than a concrete enlargement. Surface preparation and application are typically measured in days rather than weeks, and there is no formwork or curing of new concrete. The governing constraint is usually access and substrate preparation.
Are you approved by the material manufacturers?
We are a Sika certified applicator and hold approvals from Fischer and Fosroc. Our technical lead holds advanced composite certification from the United States and Canada. Certificates are issued upon request.
Can CFRP be used on corroded structures?
Not on its own, and not before the corrosion is addressed. Bonding fibre over actively corroding reinforcement traps the problem underneath. Concrete repair and, where required, corrosion management come first; strengthening follows.

Send us the drawings. We will tell you what it takes.

BOQ, isometrics, specifications or a full tender package. Acknowledged within one working day, with the machine schedule and programme in the offer.

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