Review on the use of FRP Composites for Facades and Building Skins

Abstract

Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites represent a class of materials typically able to offer excellent mechanical, thermal and insulation properties, taking advantage of a combination of their constitutive fibers and polymers. Due to their intrinsic lightweight properties, FRP composites are in use for aerospace, automotive, marine industries and ballistic armor since several decades. Only in a subsequent phase, i.e. since the late 1990s, FRP composites found application in civil engineering constructions, including both building systems and infrastructures, for retrofitting purposes in existing structural systems, as well as for pure architectural or structural purposes in novel assemblies. This review paper aims to highlight the most recent applications of FRPs in facades and building skins, with careful attention for case studies and novel design concepts.