9632850 Tsai Steel reinforcing bars for concrete suffer from limited resistance to corrosion, costly field assembly and lack of ductility under severe earthquake. Composite materials have outstanding corrosion and fatigue resistance and a weight 1/5 of steel. Graphite fiber/organic matrix unidirectional composite materials have outstanding longitudinal stiffness over 20,000ksi and tensile strength over 200ksi, and when properly designed can compete directly with steel rebars. It is therefore the goal of this proposal to demonstrate and develop: A novel manufacturing method of composite grid reinforcement. Rapid factory/field assembly of reinforcing system. Grid reinforced containment skin for columns. Test data on columns subjected to static, dynamic and cyclic loads.
