Flexural and shear strengthening of RC beams with NSM technique and manually made CFRP bars

In this paper, the efficiency of NSM method for both flexural and shear strengthening of RC beams was examined by applying an innovative manually made CFRP bar (MMFRP) as an alternative reinforcement composite material through experimental and numerical investigation. The experimental program consists of three inverted T-section RC flexural-dominated beams and three rectangular section RC shear-dominated beams involving parameters of length, anchoring of MMFRP bars, and their inclination to the beams' longitudinal axis. The structural performances of the tested beams and the Finite-Element (FE) modelling approach, including modes of failure, load-deflection response, and ultimate load capacity, were presented and discussed. Test results indicated that using the proposed MMFRP bars significantly improved the flexural resistance and shear capacity of deficient concrete beams. Furthermore, a reduction in the crack width along with an increase in the quantity and propagation of new cracks was observed in strengthened beams, compared to control beams. (C) 2018 Sharif University of Technology. All rights reserved.