Fatigue Damage Behaviors of TRC-Strengthened RC Beams

Abstract

For the investigation of fatigue damage behavior of textile reinforced concrete (TRC)-strengthened RC beams, in this study, eight RC beams were fabricated, and five of them were strengthened with TRC and tested under fatigue loading until failure, using a four-point bending setup. Research parameters included reinforcement ratio, textile ratio, and strengthening methods (single-side and U-wrapped). The failure mode, fatigue life, fatigue deformation, and other properties of TRC-strengthened beams were analyzed. Experimental results revealed that there were two fatigue failure modes for TRC-strengthened RC beams. In the first mode, the textile was snapped, but the steel bars did not rupture. In the second mode, both the textile and steel bars broke. Fatigue failure modes depended on the textile ratio. The TRC-strengthened beam’s fatigue life was significantly higher than the non-strengthened RC beam. At the same textile ratio, the TRC-strengthened beam’s fatigue life using the single-side method was longer than that using the U-wrapped method. With the increase in fatigue loading time, the midspan deflection of the TRC-strengthened beam was developed in three stages, namely rapid development stage, stable development stage, and destabilized development stage. The residual deflection and strain damage accumulation of tensile steel bars of TRC-strengthened beams were significantly reduced with the increase in textile or reinforcement ratios; thus, the beam’s fatigue life was prolonged.