Flexure Strengthening and Analysis Using CFRP Composite and Reactive Powder Concrete

Abstract

There are many cases of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) and reactive powder concrete (RPC) in structural repair and reinforcement, but there are not many related theoretical and experimental discussions. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to focus on the experiment and theoretical calculation of the flexural strengthening of concrete beam specimens. The study was primarily separated into two parts. In the first part, the laboratory tests of flexure strengthening by using CFRP and two reactive powder concretes (RPC1 and RPC2) are used to evaluate the effect of strengthening concrete beams. Secondly, the test value of the maximum flexure failure load of the strengthening specimen using RPC or CFRP and its theoretical value calculated by the transform section method or the ultimate strength method are discussed and compared with their reinforced effect. The test results show that the RPC and CFRP display excellent repair and retrofit potential. The RPC reinforcement material with a thickness of 2 cm and a steel fiber content of 1.0% is approximately equal to the reinforcement effect of three layers of CFRP. In particular, the RPC reinforcement effect is good, and the bonding interface is not damaged. The transform section method could be used to analyze and calculate the maximum flexure failure load of the RPC strengthening concrete beam. The transform section method and ultimate strength method cannot accurately analyze the maximum flexure failure load of the CFRP-strengthening concrete beam.