Capacity reinstatement of reinforced concrete one-way ribbed slabs with rib-cutting shear zone openings: Hybrid fiber reinforced polymer/steel technique

Abstract

This study examined the use of two configurations for capacity restoration of reinforced concrete (RC) one-way ribbed slabs containing openings in shear zones. Four specimens of half-scale comprised three ribs in addition to a top RC slab. The test plan included a control specimen without openings, one with two rib-cutting shear openings, one strengthened using a blend of carbon FRP (CFRP) composites and steel plates, and another retrofitted with a combination of glass FRP (GFRP) composites and steel plates. The two strengthening schemes were found successful at fully restoring the ultimate load of the specimens. The ultimate load of specimen strengthened using the hybrid CFRP/steel system exceeded the control slab without openings by 52%. However, in the other specimen where a mix of steel plates and GFRP sheets was used, the load capacity was only 5% less than the control specimen without openings. While the dissipated energy and stiffness were reinstated and improved for the hybrid CFRP/steel system, they were partially restored for the GFRP/steel system. Additionally, a prediction approach was developed to estimate the maximum load of the slabs. The developed approach considered potential shear and flexural modes of failure, providing close predictions of the ultimate load.