Rehabilitation of reinforced concrete beams with insufficient longitudinal reinforcement lap-splice length using FRP sheets

Abstract

On the other hand, FRP composites have been used widely for the repair of deteriorated RC elements and they are also used to strengthen existing structures against shear and flexural failures, Sergio, F. et al. (2003) & Tarek, M.B. et al. (2005). FRP-laminated composites, consisting of carbon, aramid, and glass fibers, present significant advantages such as high-strength/weight ratio, light weight, ease of handling and application, elimination of falsework and heavy equipment, faster construction rates, and no corrosiveness. However, a limited number of studies were conducted to investigate strengthening RC beams, with defects in the lap splice zone, with FRP sheets. Bilal S. Hamed1 INTRODUCTIONParameters affecting the bond strength between reinforcing bars and concrete may be summarized into three major groups. The first one is the components of the concrete mix such as: type of aggregates, additives, binding minerals and the level of concrete strength. The second group which is mainly corresponding to the reinforcing bar itself may be listed as bar diameter, bar surface specifications, bar surface coating, lap splice length and position of the reinforcing bars with respect to each other and to the concrete surface. The rest of the affecting parameters can be classified in the third group like the existence and amount of transverse reinforcement, temperature, corrosion level and the loading history.