FRP reinforcement of wood elements under bending loads

This paper presents a study on the reinforcement of existing wood elements under bending loads through the use of FRP materials. First, an analytical investigation was conducted on the behavior of a generic FRP-reinforced wood section. This study, in turn, led to a numerical procedure based on non-linear wood properties, suitable for application in the design of FRP reinforcement of old, pre-existing wood beams under differing configurations of intervention layout and materials applied. At the end of this paper results of an experimental campaign are presented and used for comparison with the numerical procedure.