Case Study on Prestressed CFRP Plates Applied for Strengthening Hollow-Section Beam Removed from an Old Bridge

Abstract

With the wide application of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) plate, used for strengthening existed concrete structures, the prestressing technology of CFRP plate is becoming a hot topic, in order to sufficiently develop its high-strength peculiarity. In this paper, a full-scale hollow-section beam with length of 16 m taken from an old bridge which was in service for about 20 years was first examined for existed cracks and repaired by filling epoxy adhesive, and then the beam was strengthened with prestressed CFRP plates. The CFRP plates were tensioned and fixed with flat-plate anchorages at ends and bonded with adhesive on the bottom surface of the beam. The strengthened beam was experimentally studied using a four-point test to measure the concrete strain along the height of the mid-span section and the mid-span deflection. The finite element model of the strengthened beam was verified by the comparison of test results and used for an extending study of parametric analysis considering the effect of the length and amount of CFRP plates. Results indicated that with an increase in the length and amount of CFRP plates, the mid-span deflection of the beam decreases with the increased cracking resistance and bearing capacity, while the ultimate failure mode transfers from the under-reinforcement to the over-reinforcement.