Restoring Initially Cracked Reinforced Concrete Beams utilizing Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Strips

Abstract

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips are widely used all over the globe as a repair and strengthening material for concrete elements. This paper looks at comparison of numerous methods to rehabilitate concrete beams with the use of CFRP sheet strips. This research work consists of 4 under-reinforced, properly cured RCC beams under two point loading test. One beam was loaded till failure, which was considered the control beam for comparison. Other 3 beams were load till the appearance of initial crack, which normally occurred at third-quarters of failure load and then repaired with different ratios and design of CFRP sheet strips. Afterwards, the repaired beams were loaded again till failure and the results were compared with control beam. Deflections and ultimate load were noted for all concrete beams. It was found out the use of CFRP sheet strips did increase the maximum load bearing capacity of cracked beams, although their behavior was more brittle as compared with control beam.