Abstract
Steel plate or FRP materials have been typically used for the seismic retrofit of civil infrastructures. In order to overcome the limitation of each retrofitting material, a composite material, which takes advantages from both metal and fiber polymer materials, has been developed. In the study herein, the composite retrofitting material consists of metal part(steel or aluminum) and FRP sheet part(glass or carbon fiber). The metal part can enhance the ductility and the FRP part the ultimate strength. As a preliminary study to investigate the fundamental mechanical characteristics of the metal-FRP laminated composite material this study performed the flexural fracture test with various experimental variables including the number, the angle and the combination of FRP laminates. From the aluminum-FRP composite tests no great increase in flexural strength and flexural toughness were observed. However, flexural toughness of steel-FRP laminate composite was increased so that its behavior can be considered in the retrofit design. In addition, the angle and the kind of fibers should be carefully considered in conjunction with the expected loading conditions.