Flexural strengthening of RC beams with CFRP grid-reinforced ECC matrix

Xu Yang, Wan-Yang Gao, Jian-Guo Dai*, Zhou-Dao Lu, Ke-Quan Yu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

196 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper investigates the flexural performance of a series of RC beams externally bonded with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) grid-reinforced engineered cementitious composite (ECC) matrix. A total of 15 RC beams, including three control and twelve strengthened, were prepared and tested. The test variables included the longitudinal reinforcement ratio, the strengthening configurations that consisted of different cementitious matrices (ECC versus epoxy mortar), different installation methods (prefabricated versus cast-in-place), and different stiffness of CFRP grids. The test results showed that ECC is an ideal cementitious matrix for the strengthening applications where FRP grids are used as the external reinforcement. The flexural strengthening configuration using the epoxy adhesive to bond prefabricated CFRP grid-reinforced ECC plate proved to be the most efficient solution. For such configuration, the plate-end debonding can be avoided and the mid-span debonding can be almost suppressed. Flexural capacity analysis was conducted and demonstrated that the plane section assumption is valid and the full strength composite action can be nearly achieved for the strengthening system. The average ratio of the predicted peak loads to the experimental ones of the strengthened RC beams was 1.05. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)9-26
JournalComposite Structures
Volume189
Online published20 Feb 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2018
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publication details (e.g. title, author(s), publication statuses and dates) are captured on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis at the time of record harvesting from the data source. Suggestions for further amendments or supplementary information can be sent to [email protected].

Funding

The authors are grateful for the financial support provided by the National Key Research Program of China (Grant No: 2017YFC0703002 ) National Natural Science Foundation of China (Programs Nos. 51478406 , 51408521 and 51278441 ) and the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR (Project Code: PolyU 5145/13E) for providing the funds for their research work. The first author would also acknowledge the joint PhD studentship provided by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University through the project 4-BCAX.

Research Keywords

  • CFRP grid
  • Debonding
  • ECC
  • Flexural strengthening
  • Prefabricated plate
  • RC beam

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