Flexural experimental study on reinforced concrete beams strengthened with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer laminates using anchorage systems

Abstract

Flexural capacity of RC beams gets significant improvement with externally bonded Carbon Fiber-reinforced Polymer (CFRP) sheet. The anchorage system is a valid means to restrain or delay debonding failure caused by stress concentration at the ends of CFRP sheets. In this paper, four RC beams, measuring 150 × 200 × 1900 mm, were examined under four-point bending test. One beam was applied for contrast. And other three were CFRP strengthened with no anchorage, CF anchors (carbon fiber anchors) and U-wraps (U-shaped CFRP wraps). The primary purpose of the experiment was to validate the effectiveness of CF anchors and U-wraps in improving the flexure character of beams strengthened with CFRP sheets. The experimental results revealed that the strengthened beams using anchorage systems performed remarkably in beam ductility, flexural capacity, load-deflection response and failure mode compared with the contrast beam. The anchorage systems were more effective and necessary to enhance the flexural behavior of beams as using CFRP laminates for flexural strengthening.