Internal Steel Reinforcement Research Articles

Mechanics of Bond Fatigue Behavior of Concrete Beams Strengthened with NSM CFRP Rods

Bond tests were conducted on 28 concrete beams strengthened with near-surface mounted (NSM) carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) rods under different fatigue load levels. In the NSM technique, the CFRP rods are placed inside precut grooves and bonded to the concrete with epoxy adhesive. The test variables included: presence of internal tension steel reinforcement (unreinforced or reinforced), type of CFRP rod (spirally wound or sandblasted), and the fatigue load level. The beams were tested in four-point bending. Bond failure was by debonding between the CFRP rod and the epoxy that started at sections close to the beam midspan. As the load was cycled further, debonding propagated toward the supports. At failure, the beams strengthened with a given rod type (sandblasted or spirally wound) showed the same CFRP strain at sections close to the support. The sandblasted rods showed a better bond fatigue performance than the spirally wound rods, which, at a given load level, failed at a higher number of cycles.

Simulation Analysis on Repair of Concrete Beams Using Near-Surface Mounted GFRP Bars

This paper focuses on the characterization of flexural behavior of RC beams strengthened with Near-Surface Mounted (NSM) GFRP bars. Based on ABAQUS, the finite element model for the flexural behavior is established and the simulated results are compared with the test results. The parameters including the amount of GFRP bars, the embedment length of GFRP bars, the types of FRP bars, and the ratio of internal steel reinforcement in the beam for the flexural behavior are discussed. The simulated results show that there has a good agreement with the experiment results. The beams strengthened with NSM GFRP bars have a significant improvement in flexural stiffness and bending capacity. Further more, the analysis results on the parameters indicate that ultimate bearing capacity of the beam strengthened with NSM-GFRP bars gradually increases with the amount of FRP bars and the ratio of the longitudinal steel reinforcement. The mode of failure of the beam strengthened with the smaller embedment length of GFRP bars is not the rupture of GFRP bars. The different types of FRP bars have a great influence on the load-deflection curves of the beams.

Uniaxial Tension Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Members Strengthened with Carbon Fiber Sheets

A two-dimensional (2D) nonlinear numerical analysis code by using the rigid body spring method (RBSM) was developed by the writers at Hokkaido University to simulate the behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) members strengthened with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets. The code supports the nonlinear constitutive laws for the different materials and nonlinear bond stress-slip relationships for steel-concrete and FRP sheet-concrete interfaces. This study uses the aforementioned code to examine the uniaxial tension behavior of RC members strengthened with carbon fiber sheets (CFS). Experimental results are compared with relevant numerical outputs to validate the model and confirm its ability to simulate the experimental observations. This study also assesses the influence of the amount of CFS strengthening on the tension-stiffening behavior of strengthened members. Finally, this research also suggests new analytical expressions for the average stress-strain relationships of concrete and steel in tension in the presence of stiffening contributions from internal steel reinforcement bars and externally bonded CFS reinforcement.

Combined Shear and Flexural Behavior of Hybrid FRP-Concrete Beams Previously Subjected to Cyclic Loading

Concrete-filled fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) tubes (CFFTs) were initially proposed for bridge substructures in corrosive environments in the early 1990s. Systematic studies have since demonstrated the feasibility and merits of CFFTs with or without internal mild steel reinforcement. However, the experimental database in this field is still quite limited. This paper enhances the test database through a series of monotonic bending tests on one control RC specimen and five CFFT specimens previously subjected to reverse cyclic loading. Although the control RC specimen suffered shear-flexural cracks, specimens with carbon fibers experienced flexural failure by longitudinal splitting of the FRP tube in tension and its crumpling in compression. Specimens with glass or hybrid (glass/carbon) fibers, on the other hand, all failed by local buckling of FRP with either burst crushing or crumpling cracks. The specimen with hybrid fibers had higher normalized initial stiffness primarily because of its higher FRP/concrete stiffness ratio. The tests showed that the ductility of CFFT increases with FRP rupture strain. Further synthesis of flexural strength with FRP and mild steel reinforcement indexes reveals the existence of an optimized overall reinforcement index to achieve a design moment without overconfining concrete. Finally, the study confirms that shear failure is not critical for CFFT specimens at short shear span-to-depth ratios, even with internal mild steel reinforcement, as long as the FRP architecture is designed properly.

Behavior of Large-Scale Circular and Square RC Columns Confined with Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer under Uniaxial Compression

Most experimental studies concerning the stress-strain behavior of concrete columns confined with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) focused on plain concrete columns with small section. In this study, 34 concrete columns with large-scale circular and square cross section confined with CFRP were tested under axial compression to investigate the influence of sectional dimensions, internal steel reinforcement and thickness of CFRP jackets on the stress-strain behaviors. Test results indicated that the confinement of CFRP resulted in significant increase in axial stress and strain for circular RC columns, while remarkable enhancement in axial strain but slightly in axial stress for square RC columns. The stress-strain responses of CFRP-confined square RC columns were significantly influenced by sectional dimensions and internal transverse reinforcement. The typical confinement ratio, which is obtained from studies on CFRP-confined unreinforced concrete columns with small cross sections, was not applicable for the case of large-scale square RC columns.

Chloride Diffusion Property of Recycled Aggregate Concrete Treated with Water Repellent Agents-Silane

Silane-base water repellent agents can significantly suppress the capillary water absorption of concrete and consequently improve the durability of the concrete and protects the internal steel reinforcement. This paper presents test result on chloride diffusion property of natural and recycled aggregate concrete externally and internally treated with silane-based water repellent agents based on the ASTM C1202 test method. The effects of concrete cracks on the chloride diffusion property were also investigated. After the tests, the impregnation depth of silane into the natural and recycled aggregate concrete, the total charges passing the testing samples and penetration depth of chloride during the testing period were determined. It was found that, for both cracked and uncracked concrete, externally treated natural and recycled aggregate concrete performed better than internally treated ones. The water repellent treatment method is more effective for recycled aggregate concrete than natural aggregate concrete because a deeper impregnation depth can be achieved in the former case.

Flexural behaviour of concrete beams strengthened with near surface mounted fibre reinforced polymer bars

Fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials have been used as internal and external reinforcement for concrete structures. Flexural strengthening of concrete elements using near surface mounted (NSM)–FRP materials are a promising technology. This research is designed to investigate the behaviour of reinforced concrete beams strengthened in flexure with NSM–FRP bars. A total of 20 reinforced concrete beams were tested. Different parameters including internal steel reinforcement ratio, type of NSM–FRP bars, FRP bar diameter, bonded length, and groove size were investigated in this research. Test results showed that the use of NSM–FRP bars is effective in increasing the flexural capacity of concrete beams. In addition, a nonlinear 3D finite element (FE) analysis was used to numerically simulate the behaviour of the test beams. Comparisons between the FE predictions and experimental results showed very good agreement in terms of the load−deflection and load−strain relationships, ultimate capacities, and modes of failure for the tested beams.

Embedded Through-Section FRP Rod Method for Shear Strengthening of RC Beams: Performance and Comparison with Existing Techniques

Embedded through-section (ETS) technique is a recently developed method to increase the shear capacity of reinforced concrete (RC) using fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) rods. The ETS method presents many advantages over existing methods, such as externally bonded FRP sheets (EB FRP) and near-surface mounted FRP rods (NSM FRP). Unlike EB and NSM methods where the FRP relies on the concrete cover of RC beams, in the ETS method, the FRP relies on the concrete core of the RC beam, which offers a greater confinement and hence improves bonding performance. Additionally, the ETS method requires less concrete preparation compared with EB and NSM methods. The objective of this paper is to present results of an experimental investigation that studies the effectiveness of the ETS method and compares the performance of the ETS method with both EB and NSM methods. In total, 12 tests are performed on 4,520-mm-long T-beams. The parameters investigated are as follows: (1) the effectiveness of the ETS method, compared with EB FRP sheet and NSM FRP rod methods; (2) the presence of the internal steel; and (3) the internal transverse steel reinforcement ratio (i.e., spacing). The test results confirm the feasibility of the ETS method and reveal that the performance of the beams strengthened in shear using this method is significantly superior compared with that of the beams strengthened with EB and NSM methods.

Creep in concrete beams strengthened with composite materials

Abstract This paper investigates the creep behaviour of concrete beams strengthened with externally bonded composite materials. The challenges associated with the creep modelling of the different materials involved are discussed and a theoretical model is developed. The model derived in the paper accounts for the viscoelasticity of the materials using differential-type constitutive relations that are based on the linear Boltzman’s principle of superposition. The model also accounts for the deformability of the adhesive layer in shear and through its thickness, and for its ability to resist stresses in these directions. These aspects are not fully accounted for in the existing models. An incremental formulation of the field equations is conducted via the variational principle of virtual work, which considers the variation of the internal stresses in time and their effect on the creep response. A numerical study that examines the capabilities of the model and quantifies the response of the strengthened beam to sustained loads is presented, with special focus on the edge stresses that develop at the adhesive interfaces and which initiate debonding failures. The effect of flexural cracking of the concrete is also considered through an enhancement of the model, along with a numerical example that describes the variation with time of the forces and stresses in the concrete beam, the internal steel reinforcement, and the FRP strip at the cracked section.

Mechanism of Bond Behavior of Concrete Beams Strengthened with Near-Surface-Mounted CFRP Rods

Bond tests were conducted on concrete beams strengthened with near-surface-mounted (NSM) nonprestressed and prestressed carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) rods under static loading. In the NSM technique, the CFRP rods are placed inside precut grooves and bonded to the concrete with epoxy adhesive. Six concrete beams were tested. The test variables included presence of internal tension steel reinforcement (unreinforced and reinforced), use of NSM CFRP strengthening (nonprestressed and prestressed), and type of CFRP rod (spirally wound and sand blasted). The beams were tested statically in four-point bending. Based on the test results, the transfer length for the prestressed CFRP rod in epoxied groove was 150 and 210 mm for the sand blasted and spirally wound rods, respectively. The main failure mode was debonding between the CFRP rod and the epoxy that starts at sections close to the midspan then, as the load increases, it propagates toward the supports. At failure, the beams strengthened with a given ...

Analytical Model for FRP Confinement of Concrete Columns with and without Internal Steel Reinforcement

The paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of the behavior of reinforced concrete columns confined with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets. In particular, some new insights on interaction mechanisms between internal steel reinforcement and external FRP strengthening and their influence on efficiency of FRP confinement technique are given. In this context a procedure to generate the complete stress-strain response including new analytical proposals for (1) effective confinement pressure at failure; (2) peak stress; (3) ultimate stress; (4) ultimate axial strain; and (5) axial strain corresponding to peak stress for FRP confined elements with circular and rectangular cross sections, with and without internal steel reinforcement, is presented. Interaction mechanisms between internal steel reinforcement and external FRP strengthening, shown by some experimental results obtained at the University of Padova with accurate measurements, are taken into account in the analytical model. Four experimen...

Investigation on Effects of Variables on Shear Capacity of Precracked RC T-Beams with Externally Bonded Bi-directional CFRP Discrete Strips

This study aims to investigate the shear performance of partially precracked Reinforced Concrete (RC) T-beams bonded externally with bi-directional Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) discrete strips. A series of twelve RC T-beams are fabricated with internal transverse steel reinforcement and subjected to four-point and three-point bending systems. The external CFRP reinforcement strips are applied on the web and soffit of the beam with two-component epoxy system. The parameters investigated in the experimental program included (i) longitudinal tensile reinforcement ratio, (ii) shear span to effective depth ratio, (iii) spacing, and (iv) orientation of discrete CFRP strips. The experimental results show that the bi-directional CFRP discrete strip reinforcement significantly increases the shear capacity between 18 and 54% over the control beams. It is found that the test variables have significantly influenced the shear capacity of the CFRP strengthened beams. This study also validates the obtained experimental results with different existing theoretical models.

Axial Load-Bending Moment Diagrams of Carbon FRP Wrapped Hollow Core Reinforced Concrete Columns

Hollow core reinforced concrete columns are generally preferred in use to decrease the cost and weight/stiffnesss ratio of members, such as bridge columns and piles. With a simplified stress state assumption, strengthening a hollow core reinforced concrete column with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) wrapping provides a biaxial confinement to the concrete, which leads to a need of defining the effect of FRP wrapping on the strength and ductility of the hollow core reinforced concrete columns. In this study, two groups of four hollow core reinforced concrete columns ( 205 mm outer diameter, 56 mm hollow core diameter, and 925 mm height) were tested under concentric, eccentric (25 and 50 mm eccentricity) and bending loads to observe the effect of carbon FRP (CFRP) wrapping. All the columns had internal steel reinforcement. Half of the columns had three layers of circumferential CFRP wrapping, whereas the other half had no external confinement. Axial load-bending moment (P–M) diagrams of each group were drawn ...

Reliability of Axially Loaded Fibre-Reinforced-Polymer Confined Reinforced Concrete Circular Columns

Monte-Carlo simulation based procedure was applied for assessing the reliability of Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) confined reinforced concrete columns. Assessment of reliability provides a quantitative measure of effectiveness of repair. Problem Statement: The procedure presented in the paper could be used for assessing the reliability of reinforced concrete columns before and after the application of FRP wrap, thus helping to quantitatively assess the effectiveness of repair. The equations provided in ACI 440.2R were used for formulating the reliability equations Approach: Java based computer program was developed to assess the reliability of circular concrete columns strengthened using FRP composites. The influence of diameter, thickness of wrap, longitudinal steel and elasticity modulus of wrap on reliability was studied. Results: The results indicated that the diameter of column and wrap thickness strongly influenced the reliability of columns Conclusion/Recommendations: The influence of internal steel reinforcement area and elasticity modulus of Fiber Reinforced Polymer on reliability was very limited. Computationally efficient formulation for estimating reliability was proposed. The new equation estimated reliability by up to 1575.2314 times faster than the common equation, thus resulting in the saving of time and computational power.

A critical steel yielding length model for predicting intermediate crack-induced debonding in FRP -strengthened RC members

Yielding of the internal steel reinforcement is an important mechanism that influences the Intermediate Crack-induced debonding (IC debonding) behavior in FRP-strengthened RC members since the FRP is required to carry additional forces beyond the condition of steel yielding. However, rational design practice dictates an appropriate limit state is defined when steel yielding is assured prior to FRP debonding. This paper proposes a criterion which correlates the occurrence of IC debonding to the formulation of a critical steel yielding length. Once this length is exceeded the average bond stress in the FRP/concrete interface exceeds its threshold value, which proves to correlate with the average bond resistance in an FRP/concrete joint under simple shear loading. This proposed IC debonding concept is based on traditional sections analysis which is conventionally applied in design practice. Hence complex bond stress-slip analyses are avoided. Furthermore, the proposed model incorporates not only the bond properties of FRP/concrete interface but also the beam geometry, and properties of steel and FRP reinforcement in the analysis of IC debonding strength. Based upon a solid database, the validity of the proposed simple IC debonding criterion is demonstrated.

Behaviour of bridge deck cantilever overhangs subjected to a static and fatigue concentrated load

Innovative steel-free deck slabs and deck slabs reinforced with fibre reinforced polymers (FRPs) are a solution to the problem of corrosion of internal steel reinforcement. Engineers have proposed the idea that there may be some arching-action present in bridge deck cantilever overhangs subjected to a concentrated load. An experimental research program was undertaken at the University of Manitoba to investigate this hypothesis. This paper includes the details of the experimental program required to test a full-scale innovative bridge deck with cantilevers reinforced with different top transverse reinforcing bars. The experimental results include specific information related to the static and fatigue deflection related results, strain related results, crack related results, and modes of failure. The experimental test results indicated that the static and fatigue behaviour of an unstiffened bridge deck cantilever overhang may not be completely flexural. The experimental static and fatigue destructive testing of bridge deck cantilever overhangs subjected to a concentrated load suggests that there may be the presence of arching-action. Further experimental research is required to confirm the behaviour of bridge deck cantilevers with a barrier wall subjected to a concentrated load.

Analytical Model for FRP-Confined Circular Reinforced Concrete Columns

One disadvantage of most available stress–strain models for concrete confined with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites is that they do not take into consideration the interaction between the internal lateral steel reinforcement and the external FRP sheets. According to most structural concrete design codes, concrete columns must contain minimum amounts of longitudinal and transverse reinforcement. Therefore, concrete columns that have to be retrofitted (and therefore confined) with FRP sheets usually contain lateral steel. Hence, the retrofitted concrete column is under two actions of confinement: the action due to the FRP and that due to the steel ties. This paper presents a new designed-oriented confinement model for the axial and lateral behavior of circular concrete columns confined with steel ties, FRP composites, and both steel ties and FRP composites. Comparison with experimental results of confined concrete stress–strain curves shows good agreement between the test and predicted results.

Strengthening of one-way spanning RC slabs with cutouts using FRP composites

This paper reports the results of tests on fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) strengthened one-way spanning reinforced concrete (RC) slabs with central cutouts. Four wide slabs with cutouts were tested in addition to two narrow slabs without cutouts. Different positions of applied line loads for the slabs with cutouts resulted in different slab bending action and hence different FRP behaviour for the strengthened slabs. All FRP-strengthened slabs achieved a higher load-carrying capacity than their unstrengthened control counterparts. In addition, all strengthened slabs failed by debonding initiating at intermediate cracks (IC debonding) and in the case of the slabs with cutouts, the critical cracks were diagonal and originated from the corners of the cutout. The ability of the FRP to redistribute stresses around the cutout, the failure mechanisms, as well as pre- and post-debonding behaviour of the strengthened slabs was therefore assessed for different load application positions. Strains on the FRP, concrete and internal steel reinforcement, as well as deflections at different positions on the slab surfaces are also reported. An analytical model, which is based on the ultimate moment of resistance about critical crack lines, is also reported and it its predictions are found to correlate well with the experimental results. The analytical model is able to capture the different slab bending actions in addition to the debonding failure of the strengthened slabs.

Anchorage strength models for end-debonding predictions in RC beams strengthened with FRP composites

The increase in the flexural capacity of RC beams obtained by externally bonding FRP composites to their tension side is often limited by the premature and brittle debonding of the external reinforcement. An in-depth understanding of this complex failure mechanism, however, has not yet been achieved. With specific regard to end-debonding failure modes, extensive experimental observations reported in the literature highlight the important distinction, often neglected in strength models proposed by researchers, between the peel-off and rip-off end-debonding types of failure. The peel-off failure is generally characterized by a failure plane located within the first few millimetres of the concrete cover, whilst the rip-off failure penetrates deeper into the concrete cover and propagates along the tensile steel reinforcement. A new rip-off strength model is described in this paper. The model proposed is based on the Chen and Teng peel-off model and relies upon additional theoretical considerations. The influence of the amount of the internal tensile steel reinforcement and the effective anchorage length of FRP are considered and discussed. The validity of the new model is analyzed further through comparisons with test results, findings of a numerical investigation, and a parametric study. The new rip-off strength model is assessed against a database comprising results from 62 beams tested by various researchers and is shown to yield less conservative results.

An experimentally based analytical model for the shear capacity of FRP-strengthened reinforced concrete beams

This paper deals with the shear strengthening of Reinforced Concrete (RC) flexural members with externally bonded Fiber-Reinforced Polymers (FRPs). The interaction between an external FRP and an internal transverse steel reinforcement is not considered in actual code recommendations, but it strongly influences the efficiency of the shear strengthening rehabilitation technique and, as a consequence, the computation of interacting contributions to the nominal shear strength of beams. This circumstance is also discussed on the basis of the results of an experimental investigation of rectangular RC beams strengthened in shear with “U-jacketed” carbon FRP sheets. Based on experimental results of the present and other investigations, a new analytical model for describing the shear capacity of RC beams strengthened according to the most common schemes (side-bonded and “U-jacketed”), taking into account the interaction between steel and FRP shear strength contributions, is proposed.