Flexural Behavior of RC Beams Strengthened with GFRP Laminate and Retrofitting with Novelty of Adhesive Material

Abstract

Two unique approaches were proposed to strengthen the bond between the glass fiber reinforcement polymer (GFRP) and the RC concrete surfaces. The two bonding materials are epoxy (EP) and geopolymer (GPP) with different ratios of short glass fibers (SGF). The experimental program includes seven reinforced concrete (RC) beams that have the same cross-section (150 mm × 200 mm) and are 1500 mm in length. The first beam is the control beam (B0-Control). The next three beams B1-0-GPP, B2-0.6-GPP, and B3-1.2-GPP have GPP with SGF ratios of 0%, 0.6%, and 1.2%, respectively. The last three beams B4-0-EP, B5-0.6-EP, and B6-1.2-EP have EP with SGF ratios of 0%, 0.6%, and 1.2%, respectively. The results show that the failure loads of beams B1-0-GPP, B2-0.60-GPP, and B3-1.2-GPP are greater than the control beam B0-Control by approximately 20.80%, 25.60%, and 31.40%, respectively, whereas the failure loads of beams B4-0-EP, B5-0.6-EP, and B6-1.2-EP are greater than the B0-Control by approximately 16.90%, 26.90%, and 26.10%, respectively; it is also noted that debonding occurs. In addition to the adhesive material, GPP has a great effect on increasing the beam’s failure load capacity due to the enhanced interfacial bond shear strength. Additionally, a finite-element program ABAQUS is performed to verify the experimental results.