الفهرس 
PRISMATIC VS NON-PRISMATIC RC BEAMS
Flexural strengthening using side-bonded CFRP.Only 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Long-span framed structures and simply supported bridges exhibit significant bending moment and deflection at mid span. For these structures, conventional prismatic beams with a high depth would be economically inefficient. In such instances, using reinforced concrete (RC) beams with variable depth may be considered a viable alternative to overcome this issue. Furthermore, the use of these beams enables the positioning of air conditioning ducts, the building’s electrical cables, and sewage pipes. The deterioration of these beams caused by aging, environmental factors, insufficient maintenance, and the necessity to comply with current design code standards often require immediate strengthening of these elements. Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) has been the preferred material for structural strengthening for a long time because of its high strength, low weight, and resistance to corrosion. The conventional Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer-strengthening technique (CFRP) is conducted by bonding externally CFRP sheets to the beam’s soffit. However, this method might not be feasible in several practical cases, especially when the beam’s soffit is narrow or inaccessible. A possible solution to overcome this obstacle is to strengthen the beam’s web using side-bonded (SB) CFRP sheets as opposed to the commonly used bottom-bonded (BB) scheme. In this work, a total of eleven RC beams with variable depth were tested in flexure. Different variables were investigated in this study: wrapping configuration, using Strain-Hardening Cementitious Composites (SHCC) as a cover replacement, changing the height of the CFRP sheets, and changing the number of plies. The obtained results ensured the efficiency of the sidebonded CFRP (SB) sheets in strengthening RC beams with variable depth. All strengthened beams exhibited higher ultimate capacities (Pult) than the control specimen (up to 81% gain), especially when U-wrapping anchorage.