Fire performance of CFRP/Concrete composites insulated with recycled EPS-cement blend

EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) is a well-established insulation material in the Civil Engineering Industry. This paper presents an experimental and numerical investigation of cementitious insulation developed using EPS for Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) – Concrete composites. An EPS blended insulation was applied to the CFRP/Concrete composites and tested at elevated temperatures. A numerical model was also developed to predict the heat transfer behavior of the CFRP/Concrete composites with the developed insulation under standard fire conditions. The simulations showed that the bond line has reached the glass transition temperature within a short period of time while the insulated members withstood more time. The model results indicated that the CFRP/Concrete which composites with coarser EPS can achieve 75% to 94% of fire resistance, and composites with finer EPS can achieve 83% to 99% of fire resistance than the insulation materials already commercially available.