In the last two decades, composite materials have been used to strengthen and repair reinforced concrete and masonry structural members. The strengthening systems widely used are the following: fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP), fabric-reinforced mortar (FRCM), textile-reinforced mortar (TRM), composite-reinforced mortar (CRM), and steel-reinforced grout (SRG). Research in this field is still at an early stage. The behavior of these new composite materials depends on countless factors, such as the interaction between the different substrate involved (reinforced concrete, masonry) and the strengthening system, the interaction between the external layer and the fabric mesh, the external environment, the type of strengthened system used to produce the new material, and the application of the composite material. Another fundamental aspect that describes the behavior of the composite material is the numerical and analytical model. The theoretical interpretation has been recently addressed by new techniques such as the design-oriented (DOM), analysis-oriented model (AOM), and artificial neural network (ANN). Meanwhile, numerical approaches are still only beginning to describe the external reinforcements and strengthened elements. Currently, only one reference to the macro model approach can be found in the literature. New papers in this field are welcome for submission to this Special Issue, which aims to provide an international forum to highlight and discuss the recent advances and future perspectives regarding the use of composite materials in terms of analytical, numerical, and experimental aspects.
Keywords: composite materials; experimental campaign; numerical model; analytical model.