Yousif Jabbar Lafta, Hawraa S. Malik* and Majid Faissal Jassim
Flexural behavior of RC beams externally
reinforced with CFRP composites using various
strategies
https://doi.org/10.1515/eng-2022-0492
received June 14, 2023; accepted July 22, 2023
Abstract: The external composite material bonding is an
effective and practical method for flexural strengthening
of reinforced concrete (RC) beams, providing a large
opportunity to develop high-performance and cost-effective
structures. Numerous uses exist for carbon fiber-reinforced
polymer (CFRP) materials as RC-member strengthening
methods. However, issues with bonding and de-bonding
continue to be a barrier to this technique’s accomplishment.
In this research, the CFRP sheets were integrated
as an external strengthening material to evaluate their
contribution to the flexural performance and so determine
how well the CFRP sheets are being used. The experimental
work includes one control beam and ten RC beams with
CFRP sheets as external strengthening. All beams have the
same dimensions: a length of 1.7m and a sectional area of
20 cm × 25 cm. Experimental tests were carried out with
varying CFRP types, lengths, numbers, and arrangements.
Each beam’s performance was evaluated in terms of failure
mode, ultimate load capacity, ultimate deflection, and a
load–deflection curve. The findings demonstrate the effectiveness
of CFRP strengthening by demonstrating a considerable
improvement in the majority of the study variables.
Furthermore, the CFRP strengthening offered an exterior
crack-arresting mechanism.
Keywords: flexural behavior, reinforced concrete, composite
material, carbon fiber-reinforced polymer