A New Method for Improving Ductility in Existing RC Ordinary Moment Resisting Frames Using FRPs

In the recent years, attempts have been made to upgrade existing RC Ordinary MomentResisting Frames (OMRF) into Ductile Moment Resisting Frame (DMRF). In practice, thiscan be implemented by controlling the plastic hinges locations. This paper presents theresults of an experimental study performed to evaluate the ability of CFRP sheets inpreventing the plastic hinge formation at the face of the column in exterior RC joints. Fiveplain/CFRP-retrofitted scaled-down joints of a typical OMRF were tested undermonotonic/cyclic loads to failure. The results show that carbon fibre can effectively relocate the plastic hinge away from the column face.