Experimental Study on RC Beams Strengthened with CFRP Sheets

Abstract

This paper presents the flexural performance of reinforced concrete (RC) beams with rectangular section. Seven RC beams strengthened using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets were subjected to four-point bending to investigate the effect of fiber reinforcement on the beams strengthened. The main experimental parameters included in the study are the pre-cracked width, CFRP sheet layers, the longitudinal tensile reinforcement ratio, the shear span ratio, and the concrete cover thickness. In total, seven beams were cast, one beam without any reinforcement as a control beam, two beams strengthened by CFRP sheets without making pre-cracks on the beam and four pre-cracked beams repaired with one layer or two layers CFRP sheets. Test results show the effectiveness and flexural capacity of the CFRP strengthened beams. The flexure enhancement of the CFRP strengthened beams varied between 41.7% and 124.1% over the control beam. This study confirms that the CFRP reinforcing technique significantly enhances the flexural capacity of reinforced concrete beams.