Experimental investigation into flexural retrofitting of reinforced concrete bridge beams using FRP composites

End cover separation and shear crack debond are the two most critical debonding modes in beams retrofitted with fibre reinforced polymer composites due the brittle nature of the failures. However, these failures are still not fully understood. A testing program including IS rectangular reinforced concrete beams is carried out to investigate the failure mechanisms and the influence of several parameters on these debond modes. Testing shows that end cover separation starts from FRP ends and fails in the form of shear failure at steel reinforcement level at the root of the concrete teeth between shear cracks. Shear crack debond failure is due to the opening of one of those inclined cracks. Several debond prediction models are then verified with the experiment proving to work relatively well. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.