Affiliation(s)
1. Civil Engineering at the Concrete Unit, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, 1156, Egypt;
2. Civil Engineering &Construction, Director of the Constructed Facilities Laboratory (CFL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh Campus Box 7533, 2414 Campus Shore Drive, Raleigh, NC, USA
ABSTRACT
Strengthening of RC
structures with externally bonded FRP (fiber reinforced polymers) has become an important challenge in civil
engineering. Epoxy is the main bonding agent used so far, but in the case of a
fire, it is subjected to complete loss of his bonding capabilities. Mineral
based composites strengthening systems consist of FRPs and a cementitious
bonding agent which form a repair or strengthening system that is more
compatible with the concrete substrata, and roved its efficiency. The current
research introduces the use of a special cementitious material “Grancrete” as a bonding agent. Test
results of 32 T-section RC beams strengthened with various FRG (fiber
reinforced Grancrete) strengthening systems are presented. The results demonstrated
that most of the specimens were likely to fail by debonding of the FRP from the
concrete either at the ends or at intermediate flexural cracks. This paper
presents an in-depth study aimed at the development of a better understanding
of debonding failures in RC beams strengthened with externally bonded FRP
systems. Different analytical models, published in the literature for plate end
debonding, are reviewed and
compared to test results. The results also demonstrated that when using U-wraps,
the specimens were likely to fail by FRP sheet rupture.
KEYWORDS
RC Beam, concrete, debonding, intermediate crack debonding,
FRP, Grancrete, strengthening.
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