Cracking Behavior of RC Beams Strengthened with Different Amounts and Layouts of CFRP

Abstract

The bending and shear behavior of RC beams strengthened with Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) is the primary objective of this paper, which is focused on the failure mechanisms and on the moment-curvature response prior-to, and post, strengthening with different amounts and layouts of the CFRP reinforcement. Seven reinforced concrete beams were tested in 4-point bending, one without any CFRP reinforcement (control beam, Specimen C1), four with the same amount of CFRP in flexure but with different layouts of the reinforcement for shear (Specimens B1–B4), and two with extra reinforcement in bending, with and without reinforcement in shear (Specimens B6 and B5, respectively). During each test, the load and the mid-span deflection were monitored, as well as the crack pattern. The experimental results indicate that: (a) increasing the CFRP reinforcement above certain levels does not necessarily increase the bearing capacity; (b) the structural performance can be optimized through an appropriate combination of CFRP flexural and shear reinforcement; and (c) bond properties at the concrete–CFRP interface play a vital role, as the failure is very often triggered by the debonding of the CFRP strips. The experimental values were also verified analytically and a close agreement between the analytical and experimental values was achieved.

Special Issue on Fatigue and Fracture of Non-Metallic Materials and Structures

“…Different approaches have been used, including experimental investigations, theoretical models, and numerical simulations. Papers [1][2][3][4][5] are related to concrete material, from papers [6][7][8][9][10][11][12] to rocks. Other contributions investigate the fracture behavior of functionally graded materials [13], glass [14], laminate composites [15], refractories [16], and soft matter [17].…”

Flexure Performance of Externally Bonded CFRP Plates-Strengthened Reinforced Concrete Members

“…e carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) has advantages of lightweight and high strength [1]. Considering its durability and easy construction compared with other traditional strengthened materials, CFRP has been applied in strengthening and repair of damaged reinforcement concrete structures [2,3]. e advantages of CFRP-strengthened structure have been studied in static and dynamic methods [4,5].…”

Fatigue performance and life prediction of CFRP plate in the RC bridge roof reinforcement

“…Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) with great material performance has been widely applied in various aspects after its invention, and its mechanical properties have also been extensively studied (Kalavagunta et al, 2014;Barile et al, 2019;Zhang et al, 2019;Yang et al, 2019;Yuan et al, 2019;Saleem et al, 2019). As an effective alternative to traditional materials for strengthening and repairing damaged structures, CFRP-reinforced bridge structure has been extensively investigated (Lu et al, 2018;Peng et al, 2014;Hosseini et al, 2019;Shukri et al, 2018;Mashrei et al, 2019).…”