Abstract
Experiments for flexural strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) beams with rectangular section using epoxy-bonded continuous horizontal steel plat es are carried out. Three reference beams corresponding to flexure are loaded monotonically up to maximum load capacities in order to define the preloading conditions of damaged beams. These beams are then repaired/strengthened using different plate configurations as defined by variations in plate curtailment length (S1, S2 and S3). From the experiments, it is confirmed that continuous steel plates bonded externally to the beam webs are effective for the flexural strengthening of RC beams. It is observed that the flexural strength increases with increasing plate area. When considering the maximum load, the strengthening beams show 2.36, 1.39 and 1.27 times that of the corresponding reference beams for strengthened sample of S3, S1 and S2, respectively. Experimental results show that this strengthening method is effective and the specimens’ flexural strength is improved.
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