Analyzing Flexural Integrity Enhancement in Continuous Reinforced Concrete Beams Using NSM-BFRP Ropes: Experimental and Numerical Approach

Numerical analysis of the shear behavior of FRP-strengthened continuous RC beams having web openings

This paper investigates the feasibility of replacing steel bars with carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) bars in continuous reinforced concrete (RC) beams. A numerical model is introduced. Model predictions are compared with the experimental results that are available in the literature. A comprehensive numerical investigation is then performed on two-span CFRP/steel RC beams with ρb2 = 0.61–3.03% and ρb1/ρb2 = 1.5, where ρb1 and ρb2 are tensile bar ratios (ratios of tensile bar area to effective cross-sectional area of beams) over positive and negative moment regions, respectively. The study shows that replacing steel bars with CFRP bars greatly improves the crack mode at a low bar ratio. The ultimate load of CFRP RC beams is 89% higher at ρb2 = 0.61% but 7.2% lower at ρb2 = 3.03% than that of steel RC beams. In addition, CFRP RC beams exhibit around 13% greater ultimate deflection compared to steel RC beams. The difference of moment redistribution between CFRP and steel RC beams diminishes as ρb2 increases. ACI 318-19 appears to be conservative, and it leads to more accurate predictions of moment redistribution in CFRP RC beams than that in steel RC beams.

This paper presents a study (experimentally) for strengthening reinforced concrete (RC) beams with Near-Surface-Mounted (NSM) technique. The use of this technique with CFRP strips or rebars is an efficient technology for increasing the strength for flexure and shear or for repairing damaged reinforced concrete (RC) members. The objective of this research is to study, experimentally, RC beams either repaired or strengthened with NSM CFRP strips and follow their flexural behavior and failure modes. NSM-CFRP strips were used to strengthen three RC beam specimens, one of them was initially strengthened and tested up to failure. Four beam specimens have been initially subjected to preloading to 50% and 80% of ultimate load. Two of the specimens were either repaired or strengthened with NSM-CFRP strips. All the repaired/strengthened pre-damaged beams have been tested up to failure by using compression-testing machine. An appropriate-scale model was adopted. All the specimens have a cross-sectional dimension of 150 mm with an effective span of 110 mm. Depends on the experimental results, a better performance of the strengthened concrete specimens was obtained in both strength and serviceability. As a comparison with the control beam specimen, all the repaired specimens show a very good increase of about 40% in the load-carrying capacity and a high improvement in resistance to cracking of about 120% in NSM. On the other hand, the test results of NSM CFRP-strengthened concrete specimens with a preloading of 50% and 80% of the ultimate load show an increase of about 9% to 20% in the load-carrying capacity, for 50% and 80% pre-loading, respectively an improvement in deflection of about 2% to 27% in NSM, for 80% and 50% pre-loading, respectively.

The insufficient lapped splice length of reinforcing bars due to the design or construction errors reduces both the flexural strength and ductility of Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams. The defected RC beams need to be strengthened to allow structures to be ductile and robust in their design life. This paper reports experimental and numerical investigations into the flexural behavior of RC beams having insufficient lapped splice length of reinforcing bars strengthened by various techniques. Eleven RC beams have been tested to examine the effects of strengthening techniques and anchorage lengths of the strengthening materials on the performance of the beams. The test program and results are described on RC beam specimens strengthened by using the externally bonded stainless-steel (EBSS) sheets, the near surface mounted (NSM) steel bars, and the external prestressing system. Finite Element (FE) models are developed using ABAQUS to simulate the responses of strengthened RC beams in which the lapped splice length of reinforcement is inadequate. A parametric study is conducted using the validated FE models to examine the effects of the length of EBSS sheets and steel anchor bolts at the ends on structural behavior. An analytical model is proposed for calculating the ultimate capacity of beams strengthened by NSM technique. Experimental results reveal that the proposed strengthening methods can significantly improve both the cracking and ultimate loads of the defected beams. The application of the external prestressing method results in the largest increase in the cracking and ultimate loads of the defected beams calculated as 222 % and 213 %, respectively compared to the defected control beam. The ultimate load of the defected beam strengthened with EBSS sheet, NSM steel bars, and prestressing system with a length of 100D increases by 50 %, 109 %, and 182 %, respectively. It is shown that the developed FE models can accurately predict the behavior of strengthened beams having inadequate lapped splice length of reinforcing bars. The parametric study demonstrates that strengthening the entire clear span of the beam B-ESS-65D with EBSS sheet increases its ultimate load by 207 %. The failure mode of strengthened beams is ductile bending without debonding. The proposed analytical model is shown to yield accurate calculations of the ultimate loads of strengthened RC beams.

Basalt fiber is an eco-friendly fiber and comparatively newer to the world of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. A limited number of studies have been reported in the literature on the strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) beams with basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP). The present experimental work explores the feasibility of using the BFRP strips for shear strengthening of the RC beams. The strengthening schemes include full wrap and U-wrap. A simple mechanical anchorage scheme has been introduced to prevent the debonding of U-wrap as well as to utilize the full capacity of the BFRP composite. The effect of varying shear span-to-effective depth (a/d) ratio on the behavior of shear deficient RC beams strengthened with BFRP strips under different schemes is examined. The RC beams were tested under a four-point loading system. The study finds that the beams strengthened with and without BFRP strips fails in shear for a/d ratio 2.5 and the enhancement of the shear capacity of strengthened beams ranges from 5% to 20%. However, the strengthened beams fail in flexure, and the control beam fails in shear for a higher a/d ratio, i.e., 3.5. The experimental results of the present study have been compared with the analytical study and found that the latter gives conservative results.

In order to investigate the strengthen effect of different embedment lengths of the NSM strip on different damage levels. A series of tests were conducted on damaged reinforced concrete (RC) beams in flexure strengthened with near surface mounted (NSM) carbon- fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips, and initial cracking load, ultimate capacity, loading-deflection curves, and failure modes are examined and analyzed in the paper. The results showed that not only the initial cracking loads and ultimate capacities of the beams are significantly increased，but also the flexural stiffness of the beams in the yield and ultimate behavior stages are improved by using NSM-CFRP strips. The strengthen effect on lower damage level RC beams has no obvious difference with that on non-damaged RC beams. Anchoring of the strip end can increase the ultimate load capacities and decrease the ductility of RC beams. Debonding was found to be the primary failure mode in all cases.

In this work, a comparative study of different simplified methods and nonlinear finite element (FE) models used for calculating short-term deflections (vertical displacements of the longitudinal axis) in continuous reinforced concrete (RC) beams, under service loads, is performed. The simplified methods employed are the one proposed by Branson and the bilinear method recommended by the European Code CEB - Design Manual on Cracking and Deformations. Two finite element models are utilized: the first one with frame elements in which material nonlinearities are considered along the element and its cross section divided into layers, by using of constitutive relationships for steel and concrete, while the second one utilizes beam elements, with physical nonlinearity considered by means of moment-curvature diagrams, obtained from Branson equation. Several examples of continuous RC beams under service loads are analysed and the results obtained by the different models are compared taking as reference the nonlinear frame element model. A few conclusions and recommendations regarding the use of the different methods are drawn at the end of the work.

With the enormous development of modern buildings, it is highly required to accommodate web openings in continuous reinforced concrete (RC) beams for passing utility service equipment. A wide range of studies had been conducted with regard to this subject. wtCurrent study examined numerically the major effect of the large rectangular web openings in (GFRP) reinforced concrete continuous beams under concentrated loads. Moreover, it investigated the effects of different CFRP strengthening schemes that would retrieve the ultimate capacity of the solid beam. Based on that, the main parameters that had been utilized here are the opening size, opening location and the strengthening scheme. Results showed that openings reduced the ultimate load capacity of the beams and increased the overall deflections. Furthermore, using CFRP sheets to strengthen continuous RC beams including opening retrieved (70%) of the ultimate capacity of continuous RC solid beams especially beams with openings near the external support or midspan. Likewise, using CFRP composites retrieved (48%) of the ultimate capacity of continuous RC solid beams with openings near the interior support. Furthermore, the optimum location for constructing web openings was near the external supports, which was subjected to the lowest values of shear forces and sagging moments and leaded to accommodate greater ultimate loads (85.18 kN) than other beams of other openings location.

This paper presents a finite element (FE) analysis for predicting the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened with Fe-based shape memory alloy (Fe-SMA) strips using a near surface mounted (NSM) method. Experimental results reported in the literature were used to verify the proposed FE model. FE analyses were conducted using OpenSees, a general-purpose structural FE analysis program. The RC beam specimens were modeled using a nonlinear beam-column element and a fiber element. The Concrete 02 model, Steel 01 model, and Pinching 04 model were applied to the concrete, steel reinforcement, and Fe-SMA strip in the fiber element, respectively, and the FE analysis was carried out in a displacement control method based on the Newton-Raphson method. The FE model of this study accurately predicted the initial crack load, yield load, and ultimate load. From parametric analyses, it was concluded that an increase in the compressive strength of the concrete increases the ductility of the specimen, and an increase in the level of recovery stress on the Fe-SMA strip increases the initial stiffness of the specimen.

Rational prediction of moment redistribution in continuous concrete beams reinforced with FRP bars

This paper aims to study the effect of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) strengthening techniques on the fatigue limit of Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams. An accelerated fatigue method was utilized to find the fatigue limit based on the hypothesis of linear cumulative damage as determined by the Palmgren-Miner rule. Six RC beams with dimensions of 152.4 × 152.4 × 1,520 mm were tested under monotonic and cyclic loading using a four-point bending configuration: two non-strengthened RC beams, two RC beams strengthened with Near Surface Mounted (NSM) CFRP rods, and two RC beams strengthened with Externally Bonded (EB) CFRP sheets. Strengthened RC beams had less stiffness degradation and more energy dissipation when compared to the non-strengthened RC beam. The NSM CFRP technique demonstrated a better monotonic flexural strength than the EB CFRP technique. NSM CFRP rods and EB CFRP sheets increase the fatigue limit when compared to the non-strengthened RC beam by 19% and 33%, respectively.

Iron-based shape memory alloys for prestressed near-surface mounted strengthening of reinforced concrete beams

Efficiency of EB CFRP composites for flexural strengthening of continuous RC beams: A comparative study with NSM CFRP rods

The use of near-surface mounted (NSM) Glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars is one of the most popular and effective techniques for strengthening reinforced concrete (RC) beams. This paper presents an experimental research program to study the flexural strengthening of RC beams comparing two areas of bottom tensile reinforcing steel and three development lengths of NSM GFRP bars. The beam test results indicated that the beam flexural strength increased up to 110% and 58% for the cases of low and high tensile reinforcing steel ratios, respectively. The effect of the tensile reinforcing steel area on the critical value of the development length of NSM GFRP bars was also investigated. It was found that decreasing the axial stiffness ratio, reduced the strengthening efficiency and the critical development length of the NSM GFRP bars. Finally, a 3D Finite Element (FE) model using ANSYS was constructed and was validated using the experimental results. Good agreement was seen between experimental and FE model results.

Continuous reinforced concrete (RC) beams cast in place are commonly used in construction; however, there is a notable gap in the literature regarding the performance of continuous RC beams strengthened with fiber‐reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets. Strengthening RC beams with FRP sheets typically leads to reduced ductility and moment redistribution capacity due to the linear stress–strain behavior of FRP materials compared to non‐strengthened RC beams. Addressing this gap, this study explores the feasibility of enhancing the mechanical properties and ductility of strengthened elements through a hybrid approach, combining carbon‐fiber‐reinforced polymer (CFRP) and glass‐fiber‐reinforced polymer (GFRP) sheets. An experimental program was conducted, retrofitting two continuous two‐span RC beams (250 × 150 × 6000 mm) with hybrid CFRP‐GFRP (HCG) sheets. Concentrated loads were applied at the center of each span, and comprehensive data on strains in FRP sheets, longitudinal reinforcements, and crack propagation patterns were recorded and meticulously analyzed. The outcomes demonstrated that employing HCG sheets for strengthening RC continuous beams significantly improves ductility, load‐carrying capacity, and moment redistribution, surpassing the performance of beams strengthened with either CFRP or GFRP sheets. To ensure accurate predictions of the flexural response, an analytical model was developed and rigorously verified using the experimental results. The model takes into account the strain compatibility condition and provides insights into the behavior of continuous RC beams strengthened with CFRP, GFRP, and HCG sheets. This research contributes valuable knowledge to the understanding of FRP sheet strengthening techniques, emphasizing the efficacy of HCG sheets for achieving enhanced structural performance in continuous RC beams.