Shear Failure of Patched Reinforced Concrete Beam without Web Reinforcements

Abstract

Degradation of reinforced concrete (RC) element could lead to a reduction of its strength and serviceability. The degradation may be identified in the form of spalling of concrete cover. For the case of RC beam, spalling of concrete cover could occur at the web of the shear span due to corrosion of the web reinfocements. The shear strength of the damaged-RC beam possibly will become less conservative compared to the corresponding flexural strength with a risk of brittle failure. Patch repair could be a choice to recover the size and strength of the damaged-RC beam. This research investigates the shear failure of patched RC beam without web reinforcements with a particular interest to compare the shear failure behaviour of patched RC beam and normal RC beam. The patch repair material used in this research was unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) mortar. The results indicate that the initial diagonal cracks leading to shear failure of patched RC beam occur at a lower level of loading. However, the patched RC beam could carry a greater load before the diagonal crack propagates in length and width causing the beam to fail in shear.