Shear behavior of RC beams externally strengthened and anchored with CFRP composites

Abstract

The primary objective of this paper is to study the effectiveness of anchorage on the performance of shear deficient beams externally strengthened with CFRP composites. The overall behavior of the tested beams loaded up to failure, the onset of the cracking, and crack development with increased load and ductility were described. The use of CFRP composites is an effective technique to enhance the shear capacity of RC beams by using CFRP strips anchored into the tension side and from the top by 15-34% based on the investigated variables. Bonded anchorage of CFRP strips with width of 0.1h-0.3h to the beam resulted in a decrease in average interface bond stress and an increase in the effective strain of the FRP sheet at failure, which resulted in a higher shear capacity as compared with that of the U-wrapped beams without anchorage as well as delay or mitigate the sheet debonding from the concrete surface.