ANALYSIS OF LOW STRENGTH RC BEAMS STRENGTHENED WITH FRP SHEETS

Abstract

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) sheets offer an attractive solution to enhance shear and flexural capacities of RC beams. The main objective of this research is to analyze the behavior of low strength concrete beams strengthened with CFRP. The nonlinear finite element program ANSYS was used to conduct the analysis of this research. The results of the program were verified against experimental results available in the literature. The parameters considered in this study include concrete strength, number of CFRP layers, and angle of inclination of the strips on the longitudinal axis of the beam. The results show that CFRP strips could effectively enhance the flexural and shear behavior of RC beams depending on their initial condition. The concrete strength was found to be a dominant factor affecting the improving rate of shear and flexural capacities of strengthened beams. The results of this study are compared to those estimated according to the Egyptian and American codes for advanced composite materials.