Abstract
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This study provides new insight on the compressive behaviour of partially fibre reinforced polymer (FRP)
confined concrete with either strain-hardening or strain-softening responses. Fully FRP confined concrete,
partially FRP confined concrete with different strip gaps, and unconfined concrete were tested
under axial compression. Four types of axial load-axial deformation behaviours were observed for specimens
with different strip gaps. Even though a high volumetric ratio of FRP was applied, the confinement
effectiveness was negligible when the strip gap exceeded the diameter of the specimens. Moreover, the
axial stress-axial strain behaviours of wrapped and non-wrapped concrete were observed to be different,
and significant strain localization was observed within the non-wrapped region. Based on the experimental
observations and an extensive literature review, a confinement effectiveness coefficient was proposed
for partially FRP confined concrete. A stress-strain model was then developed by considering the proposed
confinement effectiveness coefficient. The developed stress-strain model provided better predictions
than other existing stress-strain models.