Experimental Investigation of the Fatigue Bond Behaviour of RC Beams Strengthened with Near-Surface Mounted Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer Reinforcement

The use of fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) materials for structural repair and strengthening is renowned among structural engineers all over the world. In particular, the application of FRP bars using near surface mounted (NSM) techniques is emerging as a promising technology for increasing the flexural and shear strength of deficient reinforced concrete (RC) members. Although there is a huge potential for the use of NSM FRP materials, their large-scale implementation is often impeded by the lack of data on their durability when subjected to extreme loading conditions. This investigation aims to assess the fatigue bond behaviour of RC beams strengthened with NSM FRP bars. The small-scale beams will be loaded in fatigue for various numbers of cycles and then tested monotonically under four-point bending up to failure. A simple bond-slip model will be developed.