Capturing failures in steel-plated RC beams through a combination of discrete and continuum models

Abstract

In recent decades, a significant research has been conducted towards understanding the behaviour of plated beam. Initially designed to achieve a desired capacity, the plated beams prematurely fail in undesirable modes of failure, such as debonding and peeling. The uncertainty related with such modes of failure poses a real challenge towards quantifying them. This field is far from being clearly understood. Realising the importance of widely used technique for flexural retrofitting of reinforced concrete (RC) beams and its drawbacks due to premature failure(s), present work concentrates in developing a finite element tool model capable of successfully capturing multiple premature failure modes and their corresponding behaviours related to RC beam retrofitted with steel plates at their soffits. The capability and accuracy of the results has been validated through test literature in terms of load capacities of beams at progressive stages of failure type(s) through crack patterns, location, and direction of propagation. Numerical beams are showing expected load/displacement behaviour with the ability to predict further direction of propagation of cracks especially at concrete-plate interface with the use of Cohesive Zone Model (CZM).