Experimental Study on Failure Mode of Concrete Beams Strengthened with FRP Sheet

Abstract

The failure mode of the FRP reinforced concrete beam with different sheet length was investigated by experiments. The results indicate that, more cracks distributed on the bottom of the beam in the failure process of the FRP reinforced concrete structure. The effect of the FRP sheet length is considered to be an important factor not only to significantly influence the loading capacity but also to control the maximum deflection of the concrete beam. In addition, the loading capacity is increased and maximum deflection of the concrete beam is also increased with the increasing of the FRP sheet length. It showed that FRP strengthened beams failed prematurely in a brittle and sudden manner due to debonding between FRP and concrete substrate and therefore the full strength of the FRP sheet cannot be sufficiently utilized.