USE OF CARBON FIBER IN CONCRETE STRUCTURES – STATE OF THE ART
The development of material production technology has led to the application of new materials in construction. Because concrete is currently the most commonly used construction material, which in addition to numerous advantages (water resistance, low maintenance costs, easy workability, low cost, etc.) also has certain disadvan- tages (low tensile strength and brittle fracture behavior). Reinforcement of concrete using discrete fibers, ran- domly distributed, is an acceptable solution for improving the ductility of concrete. Carbon fiber reinforcement (CFRP) has been widely studied in the last two decades, as it represents a suitable alternative for the reinforce- ment of existing (endangered) RC structures. The advantages of this material are reflected in the relatively simple application, increased performance of the RC structure, low weight of the elements, etc. The paper also analyzes the existing cases of application of this material, as well as the presentation of previous research in the field of structural reinforcement using carbon fibers. Key words: Carbon fiber, Carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP), reinforcement concrete structures, reinfor- cement of existing structures, structural behavior of construCTIONS