Three-dimensional finite element analysis of reinforced concrete slabs strengthened with epoxy-bonded steel plates

Abstract

This paper presents a nonlinear finite element analysis(FEA) in order to investigate the flexural performance of one-way slabs strengthened by epoxy-bonded steel plates. Four point loading scheme is selectively chosen. A model is developed to implement the material constitutive relationships and non-linearity. Five Slabs were modeled in FEM software using ABAQUS. One slab was un-strengthened control slab and the others were strengthened with steel plates with varying the plate thickness and configuration. In order to verify the accuracy of the numerical model, a comparison was done between the experimental results available in the literature and the proposed equations by ACI 318-11 for the calculation of ultimate load capacities of strengthened slabs, the agreement has proven to be good and FEA attained accurate results compared with ACI code. A parametric study was also carried out to investigate the influence of thickness of steel plate, strength of epoxy layer and type of strengthening plate on the performance of plated slabs. Also, the practical and technical feasibility of splitting the steel plate in strengthening process has been taken into account. For practical use, the author recommended to use bonded steel plate as one unit rather than splitting it to parts, because this saves more effort and reduces the risk of execution errors as in the case of multiple bonded parts. Both techniques have nearly the same effect upon the performance of strengthened slabs.