TECHNIQUES TO REPAIR STRUCTURES

 JACKETING
 INTRODUCTION
Jacketing is the process whereby a section of an existing structural member is restored to original
dimensions or increased in size by encasement using suitable materials. A steel reinforcement cage or
composite material wrap can be constructed around the damaged section onto which shot Crete or cast-
in- place concrete is placed.

 Collars
Collars are jackets that surround only for a part of a column or pier. These are usually used to provide
increased support to the slab or beam at the top of the column.

The form for the jacket consists of timber, corrugated metal, precast concrete, rubber, fiberglass, or
special fabric; and may be permanent in some cases. The form must be provided with spacers to ensure
equal clearance between it and the existing member.

Pic.......

 Preparation
Materials, like conventional concrete and mortar, epoxy mortar, grout, and latex-modified mortar and
concrete, are used as encasement materials. For jacketing, the void between the form and the existing
member is filled using pumping, tremie, or preplaced aggregate concrete.

Jacketing is particularly used for the repair of deteriorated columns, piers, and piles and may easily be
employed in underwater applications. The method is applicable for protecting concrete, steel, and
timber sections against further deterioration and for strengthening.

Permanent forms are preferred where protection against weathering, abrasion, and chemical pollution
is desired. The collar provides increased shear capacity for the slab, and it decreases the effective length
of the column. Architecturally collars are considered better than jacketing but performing the same
structural function.

Before applying jackets or collars, all deteriorated concrete must be removed, cracks must be repaired,
existing reinforcement must be cleaned, and surfaces must be prepared. The surface preparation
improves the bond of the newly placed materials with the existing structure, which is difficult for
underwater repairs. For underwater conditions, a plastic shell may be applied at the splash zone to help
minimize abrasion. A drawback of jackets and collars is that they occupy space that was earlier available
for other uses.

Timber, cardboard and corrugated steel forms may be used as temporary or permanent forms.
Permanent fiberglass, rubber, and fabric forms have gained considerable popularity because they
provide resistance to chemical attack after the repair is complete.

Jacketing used for purposes other than covering the deteriorated concrete and providing lateral
confinement, such as to bear longitudinal loads, needs special considerations. The existing column may
have undergone full shrinkage and most of the creep and also has elastic strains due to carried loads,
whereas the shrinkage and creep of the new material has to occur.

The load transfer to jacketing is also a big issue. It is better to use jacking to release the load on the
member before jacketing, to use non-shrinking materials for jacketing and to hammer steel shims at the
transfer points of the jacketing after curing.

If the material used for jacketing is cement mortar or concrete, the cement content must be exactly
according to the requirements; both excessive and less cement contents may be dangerous. Use clean,
stable and the largest possible size aggregates. In order to reduce shrinkage, control the temperature of
the materials and the immediate surroundings during placing and curing.

Use of admixtures such as plasticizers, air-entraining agents, retarders, accelerators and waterproofing
admixtures is more beneficial in repair than even the ordinary construction.

Expanding mortars / concretes can be made by adding aluminium powder to the matrix to overcome the
setting shrinkage and some part of the drying shrinkage. The use of iron fillings or powder can also
perform this function if moisture and air are available.
In case grout is used for filling the forms, it is allowed to settle for about 20 minutes after fulfilling and
then is filled to overflowing condition. The top of the jacket must be finished with pneumatically
projected or hand placed concrete.

 PROCEDURE

o RC jacketing

It is one of the techniques used to improve or restore capacity of reinforced concrete column. The size
of the jacket and the number and diameter of the steel bars used in the jacketing process depend on the
structural analysis that was made to the column Initially, reduce or eliminate loads on columns
temporarily if it is required. This is done by putting mechanical jacks and additional props between
floors.

After that, if it is found out that reinforcements are corroded, the remove the concrete cover and clean
the steel bars using a wire brush or sand compressor. Then, coat the steel bars with an epoxy material
that would prevent corrosion. If reducing loads and cleaning reinforcement is not needed, the jacketing
process begin by adding steel connectors into the existing column.

The steel connectors are added into the column by making holes 3-4mm larger than the diameter of the
used steel connectors and 10-15cm depth. The spacing of new stirrups of the jacket in both the vertical
and horizontal directions should not be more than 50cm. Filling the holes with an appropriate epoxy
material then inserting the connectors into the holes. Adding vertical steel connectors to fasten the
vertical steel bars of the jacket following the same procedure in step 5 and 6.

Installing the new vertical steel bars and stirrups of the jacket according to the designed dimensions and
diameters. Coating the existing column with an appropriate epoxy material that would guarantee the
bond between the old and new concrete.

Pouring the concrete of the jacket before the epoxy material dries. The concrete used should be of low
shrinkage and consists of small aggregates, sand, cement and additional materials to prevent shrinkage.
Steps of reinforced concrete jacketing are illustrated in Fig

Figure below shows increasing the cross sectional area of a column by RC jacketing
 o STEEL JACKETING

This technique is chosen when the loads applied to the column will be increased, and at the
same time, increasing the cross sectional area of the column is not permitted.

1. Removing the concrete cover.

2. Cleaning the reinforcement steel bars using a wire brush or a sand compressor.

3. Coating the steel bars with an epoxy material that would prevent corrosion.
4. Installing the steel jacket with the required size and thickness, according to the design, and making
openings to pour through them the epoxy material that would guarantee the needed bond between the
concrete column and the steel jacket.

5. Filling the space between the concrete column and the steel jacket with an appropriate epoxy material.

: Increasing the cross-sectional area of column by steel jacketing

In some cases, where the column is needed to carry bending moment and transfer it
successfully through the floors, one should install a steel collar at the neck of the
column by means of bolts or a suitable bonding material.
 Welding of Steel jacket

 Materials for Concrete Repair, Replacement and Jacketing

There are various materials available for jacketing and replacement of concrete. We will discuss about
them below.

o Ordinary Portland cement Concrete and Mortar:

This is a commonly used material for replacement and jacketing of concrete as well as masonry
structures. These materials are cheap and do not require any special skilled workmen for repair works.
This material has similar properties as the concrete in existing structures.

This material consists of high early strength cement and an expansive component is added to concrete
to prevent shrinkage cracks. The common expansive agents used are:

Aluminium powder

Coke powder

Anhydrous calcium sulfo-aluminate, and

Calcium oxide.

The above materials have good bonding with exiting concrete in structures.

o Shotcrete
Shotcrete is also an ordinary concrete which is sprayed on a prepared concrete surface or masonry
surfaces under pressure with low water content through a nozzle. This pressure force compacts the
shotcrete and produces a dense homogenous mass. This shotcrete used for replacement of damaged
concrete and also for jacketing.
Reinforcement in shotcrete provided is generally welded wire fabric and deformed bars which are
tacked onto the existing concrete surface. This improves the bond between new and existing concrete.
Surface coating such as epoxy bonding agents, latex modified cement slurries or neat cement slurries
are also used for improving the bond between new and old concrete surfaces.

The application of shotcrete does not require any formwork and is applied on any surfaces of concrete
including inclined and vertical surface as well as roof slabs. This results in very good adhesion between
old and new concrete and good compaction due to application under pressure.

The use of low water-cement ratio in shotcrete results in high strength and low shrinkage of repaired
concrete. The permeability of shotcrete is also lower than that of ordinary concrete and results in better
protection of steel against corrosion.

The application of Shotcrete for concrete repair can be done using either wet mix or dry mix process. In
the wet mix process, the concrete materials are mixed with water before they are used for repair works.

In the dry mix process, compressed air is used to propel the mixture of concrete without water through
delivery hose to the nozzle where water is added through a separate hose. The water and dry mix
concrete through the second hose are spread on the existing concrete surface.

o Fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) Concrete:

Fiber-reinforced plastics or polymers is used for strengthening of concrete and masonry structures. This
material is used as a replacement of steel plate bonding and is very effective in strengthening of
columns by exterior wrapping or jacketing.

The main advantage of FRP is its high strength to weight ratio and high corrosion resistance. The
commonly used fibres in concrete are carbon fibres, glass fibres and aramid fibres. The commonly used
resins are polyester, vinyl ester and epoxy.

There are different types of fibre reinforced concrete and is named on the basis of type of material used
such as, carbon fibre reinforced polymer concrete, glass fibre reinforced polymer concrete, and aramid
fibre reinforced polymer concrete

 PRECAUTIONS TAKEN
The initial concrete substrate should e repaired

- All cracks should be treated

- All weak, damaged and easily removable concrete should be chipped away

- Clean any corroded steel by abrasion or replace any damaged steel bars
 o Installation of reinforcement
As a reinforcement the use of weberanc 405 BFX is recommended . It is applied as follows:

Drill hole to correct diameter and depth

Clean the drilled hole and remove all dust

Inject the weberanc 405 BFX

Install the rebar

o Formwork placement
Formwork is best attached directly to the concrete surface with expansion anchors or standard form
ties. Shoring or scaffolding can be used to support the formwork.

o Pumping application
The placement of material into the formed cavity depends on the geometries. Vertical surfaces start
at the lowest point, use webertec MC1. It is a pump able, self-compacting micro concrete

o Curing ad protection
Curing is recommended immediately after removal of framework

 PRACTICAL APPLICATION SITUATION

COLUMN STRENGTHENED WITH STEEL ANGLES

 STEEL JACKETING OF A COLUMN

FFRP CONFINEMENT OF A BEAM

 AN RC JACKETING APPLICATION
Although the reinforced concrete jacketing can technically be applied for all the structural members, a
jacketing application which will increase the beam’s bending capacity is not advised since it may cause
the strong beam-weak column formation resulted by an increase in the capacity of beam members.

Submitted by :- Himanshu Bishnoi

Submitted to :- Asst. Prof. Nikhil Garg