Experimental and numerical investigation on the flexural performance of RC slabs strengthened with EB/NSM CFRP reinforcement and bonded reinforced HSC layers

Abstract

In this paper, one-way reinforced concrete (RC) slabs were strengthened using External Bonding (EB) and Near Surface Mounted (NSM) techniques and tested under flexural loading until failure. The area of internal and external reinforcement, shape of strengthening elements (bars, strips, and reinforced high strength concrete (HSC) layers) and strengthening method (EB and NSM) were the experimental tested variables. The experimental results showed significant increases in the load capacities of the upgraded slabs ranging between 133.8% and 264.5% compared to their corresponding un-strengthened slabs. Consequently, the NSM technique showed higher load efficiency than the EB, even though they had nearly the same strengthening properties and area. Compared to the control slab, using NSM strips instead of EB strips or NSM bars amplified the slab load capacity by about 51.7% and 33.2%, respectively, while using NSM HSC layer instead of EB HSC layer increased slab load capacity by 74.7%. Moreover, doubling the area of EB strips improved the load capacity by 10.3%, while increasing the internal steel area by 195% enhanced the slab load capacity by 21% to 48 %, depending on the strengthening method. However, depending on the distance between internal and external strengthening elements the cracks were initiated at the ends of the strengthening element causing the slab shear failure at dissimilar loads. Finally, a verified finite element (FE) model was built to study the effect of bond length, material, and area of the strengthening element on the slab behavior.