Construction and Building Materials 14 Ž2000.

237᎐244

Shear strengthening of reinforced concrete beams using steel

plates bonded on beam web: experiments and analysis

Bimal Babu Adhikary a , Hiroshi Mutsuyoshi a,U , Masashi Sano b

a
Department of Ci¨ il and En¨ . Engineering, Saitama Uni¨ ersity, Urawa-338, Japan
b
Technical Research Institute, Sho-Bond Corporation, Tsukuba-305, Japan

Received 13 April 1999; received in revised form 10 February 2000; accepted 21 February 2000

Abstract

Experiments for shear strengthening of reinforced concrete beams using epoxy-bonded continuous horizontal steel plates were
carried out. Two control beams and 10 beams with steel plates bonded to their webs were tested. A two-dimensional non-linear
finite element analysis is also described. From the experiments and analysis, it was confirmed that continuous steel plates bonded
externally to beam webs are effective for the shear strengthening of RC beams. It was observed that the shear strength increases
with increasing plate thickness and plate depth. A maximum 84% increase in ultimate shear strength was observed over that of
the control beam without steel plates. In the case of relatively thin plates bonded to the beam web, the present numerical analysis
accurately predicts the ultimate shear strength as well as overall shear and flexural behaviour. 䊚 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All
rights reserved.

Keywords: Shear strengthening; Reinforced concrete beams; Epoxy-bonded steel plate

1. Introduction methods available for strengthening existing concrete

A large number of civil infrastructures around the
world are in a state of serious deterioration today due
to carbonation, chloride attack, etc. Moreover, many
civil structures are no longer considered safe due to
increased-load specifications in the design codes or due
to overloading. In Japan, the vehicle load designed for
highway bridges has recently been increased from 196
to 245 kN. This load requirement has put the safety
and integrity of several existing bridge structures in
question. The strengthening of these structures would
be desirable if speedy, economic, effective, and simple
strengthening techniques were available. Practical
U
Corresponding author. Department of Civil and Env. Engineer-
ing, Saitama University 255, Shimo-okubo, Urawa-shi, Saitamaken-
338-8570, Japan. Tel.: q81-48-858-3556; fax: q81-48-858-3556.
E-mail address: mutuyosi@mtr.civil.saitama-u.ac.jp ŽH. Mut-
suyoshi..
bridge structures are bonding with steel plates or fibre
reinforced polymer ŽFRP. sheets, external prestressing,
and additional concreting. The plate bonding technique
is becoming preferable for strengthening due to several
advantages such as easy construction work, minimum
change in the overall size of the structure after plate
bonding and less disruption to traffic while the
strengthening is being carried out.
The majority of research to date on plate bonding
have focused on flexural strengthening of reinforced
concrete ŽRC. beams by bonding steel plates to beam
soffits w1᎐12x. This research has clarified that the exter-
nally bonded steel plates act as additional longitudinal
reinforcements in the concrete beam and its flexural
behaviour can be predicted by the beam theory. How-
ever, research on strengthening for shear has hardly
progressed so well. So far, very few studies have been
carried out on the shear strengthening of RC beams
using web bonded steel plates w13,14x. In most studies,

0950-0618r00r$ - see front matter 䊚 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 5 0 - 0 6 1 8 Ž 0 0 . 0 0 0 2 3 - 4
238 B.B. Adhikary et al. r Construction and Building Materials 14 (2000) 237᎐244

steel plates were bonded as vertical strips to the beam

webs. The main disadvantages of this method result in
the need to anchor the top and bottom of each steel
plate and peeling due to the small shear-resisting area
of the individual strips.
The bonding of continuous horizontal steel plates to
the beam web is one convenient and effective method
of enhancing the shear strength of RC beams. This
method does not require extensive anchorage works in
contrast with vertical strips. Moreover, due to the con-
tinuous shear-resisting area provided by the plate, peel-
ing is significantly minimised. The plate provides addi-
tional stiffness against bending and contributes to
flexural strength too. The most important advantage of
this method is its workability in construction. There is,
to the best of author’s knowledge, no published re-
search on this type of strengthening technique. The
objectives of this study are to clarify the role of contin-
uous horizontal steel plates adhesively bonded to the
beam web for shear strengthening RC beams and to
study their effectiveness in terms of plate depth and
plate thickness. The study also aims to confirm the Fig. 1. Beam cross-sections and loading details.
applicability of numerical analysis by the finite element
method ŽFEM. to these plate bonded beams. A total of
bars in Series-B in the tension zone. The difference of
10 RC beams were strengthened by bonding thin steel
reinforcement was prepared to change the shear
plates of varying depth and thickness to the web using
strength as well as the flexural strength in the two
an epoxy adhesive. The results of tests on these beams
series of beams. No internal shear reinforcement was
were compared with those of control beams not rein-
provided in the region of desired shear failure to only
forced with steel plates. Furthermore, numerical analy-
result in shear failure even after strengthening. Table 1
sis based on a non-linear FEM was also performed to
shows mechanical properties of the reinforcing bars
simulate the behaviour of these beams, and the appli-
used in the beams.
cability of FEM to these plate bonded beams was
confirmed.
2.2. Bonding procedure

Beams A-1 and B-1 were control beams without steel

2. Outline of experiments
2.1. Details of test beams
A total of 12 beams in two series A and B were
tested. The beam size used was 150 mm Žb. = 200 mm
Žh. = 2600 mm Žl., as shown in Fig. 1. The beams in
both series were reinforced with two D13 bars Žde-
formed bars 13 mm in diameter. in the compression
zone, whereas two D22 bars Ždeformed bars 22 mm in
diameter. were provided in Series-A and three D22
plates while the other beams had steel plates bonded to
them. Steel plates with a continuous length of 2400 mm
and various thicknesses and depths were used. The
average yield strength and modulus of elasticity of the
steel plates were 235 MPa and 210 GPa, respectively.
Before bonding the steel plates, both sides of the beam
web were roughened by a mechanical grinding machine
until the laitance was removed and were then brushed
and cleaned thoroughly with acetone. The bonding
faces of the steel plates were also sand-blasted and
cleaned thoroughly with acetone.

Table 1
Mechanical properties of reinforcement

Reinforcement Yield strength Ultimate strength Modulus of elasticity

ŽMPa. ŽMPa. ŽGPa.

D6 bar 346 544 192

D13 bar 386 576 175
D22 bar 391 582 182
 B.B. Adhikary et al. r Construction and Building Materials 14 (2000) 237᎐244 239

The steel plates were positioned on both sides of the
beam web with a clearance of 2 mm between the
concrete face and the steel plate. In order to fix the
steel plates tightly to the beams, expansion anchors
were used. The gap around three sides of the plates
were sealed with sealing tape, and epoxy adhesive was
slowly poured into the space between the plate and the
concrete. Once the space was fully filled with adhesive,
the anchors were tightened and capped. The beams
were cured under laboratory conditions for at least 14
days before loading. Installation of anchors, positioning
of steel plates, and application of epoxy adhesive are
illustrated in Fig. 2. Mechanical properties of the epoxy
adhesive after 7 days of curing are shown in Table 2
and the test variables in the experimental program are
summarised in Table 3.
shear span to effective depth was a constant 3 in all
tests. Strains in tensile reinforcement, in steel plates,
and in concrete, and the mid-span deflection were all
measured. Strain gages were attached to the bottom
edge and the mid-depth point of the steel plates at the
middle of each shear span as well as at the middle of
the beam span in the longitudinal direction. Load was
applied monotonically to the test beams till failure.
Crack initiation and propagation were monitored by
visual inspection during testing.
3. Results of experiments and discussion
3.1. Failure mode and ultimate load

2.3. Testing and instrumentation
All beams were tested under four-point loading over
a span of 1940 mm as shown in Fig. 1. The ratio of
Fig. 2. Bonding procedure for steel plates.
Table 4 shows the ultimate failure loads and the
failure modes for all the beams tested. Fig. 3 shows
cracking patterns and failure modes of beam A-1 Žcon-
trol beam., beam A-4 Žshear failure., and beam A-7
Žflexural failure.. The control beams A-1 and B-1 failed
in shear. The failure in both cases resulted from a
critical diagonal shear crack on one of the shear spans
of the beams. The beams bonded with external steel
plates, except A-7 and B-5, also failed in shear. How-
ever, failure was delayed substantially even after the
formation of diagonal cracks. Several diagonal cracks
were observed on both shear spans of the beams. But
the first diagonal crack occurred at a relatively higher
load than in the control beams. This might result from

Table 2
Mechanical properties of epoxy adhesive Žafter 7 days of curing.

Tensile strength Compressive strength Shear strength Modulus of elasticity

ŽMPa. ŽMPa. ŽMPa. ŽGPa.

49.0 72.0 15.60 2.13

Table 3
Test variables in experimental program

Beam Concrete strength Plate thickness Plate depth Anchor spacing

no. ŽMPa. Žmm. Žmm. Žmm.ranchor layer

Series-A
A-1 27.2 ᎐ ᎐ ᎐
A-2 28.2 2.3 50 740rsingle
A-3 28.6 2.3 75 740rsingle
A-4 29.2 2.3 100 740rsingle
A-5 28.2 4.5 100 370rsingle
A-6 29.2 4.5 100 740rsingle
A-7 30.5 2.3 150 740rdouble

Series-B
B-1 28.1 ᎐ ᎐ ᎐
B-2 29.1 2.3 50 740rsingle
B-3 31.8 2.3 75 740rsingle
B-4 31.6 2.3 100 740rsingle
B-5 31.7 2.3 150 740rdouble
240 B.B. Adhikary et al. r Construction and Building Materials 14 (2000) 237᎐244

Table 4
Ultimate failure loads from experiment and analysis

Beam Numerical failure load Experimental failure load Ratio Žnumerical to

no. ŽkN.rmode ŽkN.rmode experimental.

Series-A
A-1 44.10rshear 44.40rshear 0.99
A-2 51.95rshear 55.27rshear 0.94
A-3 58.80rshear 57.23rshear 1.03
A-4 66.54rshear 63.10rshear 1.05
A-5 80.40rshear 83.40rshear 0.96
A-6 80.40rshear 79.10rshear 1.02
A-7 108.8rflexure 93.50rflexure 1.16

Series-B
B-1 47.04rshear 50.51rshear 0.93
B-2 53.90rshear 58.85rshear 0.92
B-3 68.60rshear 74.38rshear 0.92
B-4 73.50rshear 74.38rshear 0.99
B-5 147.00rflexure 126.30rflexure 1.16

the confinement effect provided by the external plates
as well as the stiff adhesive layer between the steel
plate and concrete. Ultimate failure of these beams
occurred due to one major diagonal crack, which ex-
tended up to the loading point from the support. The
steel plate was detached from the concrete at the
location of this crack and splitting and crushing of
concrete were observed. This can be attributed to the
formation of a concrete strut between two shear cracks
that crushes at failure. Plate debonding prior to con-
crete failure was not observed in any beam failing in
shear. The increase in shear strength was approxi-
mately 84% for beam A-5 compared with beam A-1.
Beams A-7 and B-5, bonded with 150-mm-deep steel
plates, failed in flexure by crushing of concrete in the
compression zone. This implies a higher shear capacity
than the observed flexural failure load. Fig. 4 shows the
relationship between shear strength and plate depth for
the beams that failed in shear. This demonstrates that
shear strength increases with increasing plate depth as
well as plate thickness. The increase in shear strength
is approximately 20% when the plate thickness is nearly
doubled from 2.3 to 4.5 mm.
3.2. Load-deflection beha¨ iour
Figs. 5 and 6 show the relationship between load and
mid-span deflection for plate bonded beams of Series-A
and Series-B. The beams with bonded steel plates
showed greater stiffness throughout loading than the
control beams. The increased stiffness of plate-bonded
beams results from the increased moment of inertia in

Fig. 3. Cracking pattern and failure of typical beams. Fig. 4. Shear strength vs. plate depth for beams that failed in shear.
 B.B. Adhikary et al. r Construction and Building Materials 14 (2000) 237᎐244
Fig. 5. Relationship between load and mid-span deflection for beam
Series-A.
beams with continuous side bonded steel plates. Beams
with thicker plates and higher plate depth are stiffer
than beams with thinner plates and lower plate depth.
It is found that the decrease in deflection averaged in
the service load range Žapprox. 30 kN. for the beams of
Series-A with a plate thickness of 2.3 mm is approxi-
mately 22%, compared with the control beam A-1. On
the other hand, for the beams of Series-B, it is approxi-
mately 19% for the same plate depth as in Series-A.
The reduction in deflection near the ultimate state is
almost 33% in the case of beam Series-B, whereas it is
almost the same as that for beam Series-A in the
service load range. The deflection of beams with thicker
plates Ž4.5 mm. is 42.5% lower than that of the control
beam in the service load range. Beams with bonded
steel plates also exhibited more ductile behaviour than
the control beams, which is very desirable phenomenon
in RC beams.
Fig. 6. Relationship between load and mid-span deflection for beam
Series-B.
241
Fig. 7. Relationship between load and plate strain at centre of shear
span ŽSeries-A..
3.3. Load strain beha¨ iour
Figs. 7 and 8 show the relationships between load
and strain at the bottom of the plate in the centre of
the shear span. These figures show that the strain
increases with the load gradually till the diagonal crack
occurs. Once the diagonal crack occurs, the shear resis-
tance is mostly provided by the steel plate, causing a
sharp increase in plate strain. Plate strains at the
centre of the beam span are plotted in Figs. 9 and 10
for the same beams. It is seen that the increase of
strain is almost the same for all beams in the constant
moment region, and it increases almost linearly till
failure. Fig. 11 shows the strains in longitudinal bars at
the location of maximum moment for the control beam
and two beams with different plate thickness and the
same plate depth which failed in shear. Strains in these
bars are below the yielding strain. It is seen that strains
Fig. 8. Relationship between load and plate strain at centre of shear
span ŽSeries-B..
242 B.B. Adhikary et al. r Construction and Building Materials 14 (2000) 237᎐244
Fig. 9. Relationship between load and plate strain at centre of beam
span ŽSeries-A..
in the longitudinal bars in plated beams are smaller
than those in the control beams for the same load.
Strains in longitudinal bars in beams with thicker plates
are lower than in beams with thinner plates. This
suggests that web-bonded continuous horizontal steel
plates play a role of external longitudinal reinforce-
ment, contributing to the increase of beam’s flexural
strength.
4. Outline of numerical modelling
To simulate the behaviour of beams strengthened
with steel plates, a non-linear FEM approach was
adopted. A plain stress analysis was carried out under
load control scheme up to the ultimate state.
4.1. Finite element mesh
Due to the symmetrical geometry and loading pat-
Fig. 10. Relationship between load and plate strain at centre of
beam span ŽSeries-B..
Fig. 11. Relationship between load and strain in longitudinal bar at
centre of beam span.
tern, only half portion of each beam was analysed,
imposing appropriate boundary conditions along the
line of symmetry. Based on a preliminary analysis for
mesh sensitivity, it was decided to apply eight-node
parabolic isoparametric elements to model the1 beams.
A total of 40 elements were used to model the RC
beam, and the externally bonded steel plates were
modelled with additional elements depending upon the
plate depth. Steel plate elements were superimposed
on RC plate elements by using the same nodes to
define the elements as the concrete elements. No inter-
face or bond elements were used in the analysis, as-
suming perfect bond between the concrete and steel
plates. Furthermore, the effects of the anchors were
ignored for the sake of simplicity. Finite element mesh
for the beams is shown in Fig. 12.
4.2. Material modelling
RC plate element model w15x was used to model the
reinforced concrete beam. This model deals macros-
copically with cracks and reinforcing bars by modelling
the relationship between average stress and average
strain in an RC control volume. The concept of super-
position has been adopted in computing the stiffness
matrices of the elements. By combining the constitutive
law for cracked concrete Žconsisting of a tension stiff-
Fig. 12. Finite element mesh for the beams.
 B.B. Adhikary et al. r Construction and Building Materials 14 (2000) 237᎐244
Fig. 13. Relationship between load and mid-span deflection for beam
A-3.
ness model, a compression model and a shear transfer
model. and the constitutive law for reinforcement, the
RC plate element has been formulated.
The external steel plates were modelled as an
isotropic elasto-perfectly-plastic material satisfying von
Mises’s yield criterion with material properties de-
scribed in the experimental part. For concrete strengths,
actual strengths obtained from the tests were used.
4.3. Numerical results and comparison
Numerical failure modes, ultimate failure loads, the
load vs. mid-span deflection relationship, and the load
vs. plate-strain relationship were compared with the
experimental results. Figs. 13 and 14 show the load vs.
mid span deflection relationship for two typical beams
A-3 and A-5 obtained from the tests and numerical
analysis. The agreement between numerical and experi-
mental curves is satisfactory. Fig. 15 shows the numeri-
Fig. 14. Relationship between load and mid-span deflection for beam
A-5.
243
Fig. 15. Numerical load vs. strain in plate at centre of shear span
ŽSeries-A..
cal results of plate strains at the bottom in the centre
of the shear span. Fig. 16 shows comparisons between
experimental and numerical values for beam A-4. The
curves for mid-span plate strains are shifted by 250
microstrain for easy comparison. These plots show good
agreement between the numerical and experimental
results.
The ultimate loads and failure modes from numeri-
cal analysis are presented in Table 4 along with the
experimental results. Failure occurred in the centre of
the shear span in both control beams and plated beams
that failed in shear. Compressive failure occurred in
beams A-7 and B-5 at the top concrete element between
the load point and the line of symmetry after yielding
of longitudinal reinforcements. The ultimate loads ob-
tained from FEM analyses are only within 8% differ-
ence from test values for beams failing in shear and
within 15% for beams failing in flexure. The numeri-
Fig. 16. Load vs. strain in plate for beam A-4 from experiment and
analysis.
244 B.B. Adhikary et al. r Construction and Building Materials 14 (2000) 237᎐244
cally obtained failure loads were higher in the case of
flexural failure than those observed in the tests, whereas
they were normally lower for the beams failing in
shear. With reference to the control beams, the in-
crease in ultimate shear strength was approximately
82% in numerical analysis Žresults for beams A-7 and
B-5 excluded.. Thus the present numerical analysis is
able to predict the shear strength and overall behaviour
of plate-bonded beams with acceptable accuracy. How-
ever, further refinement of the model in consideration
of possible slip between concrete and the steel plate
and the effects of the anchors is still necessary.
5. Conclusions
Experimental and numerical studies were conducted
on the shear strengthening of RC beams with epoxy
bonded continuous steel plates to confirm the effec-
tiveness of this strengthening technique and to study
the effects of plate depth and thickness on the ultimate
shear strength of plated beams. From the results of
experiments and the numerical analysis, the following
conclusions can be drawn.
1. It has been confirmed that externally bonded cont-
inuous steel plates can improve the ultimate shear
strength of reinforced concrete beams and can
enhance their flexural strength and stiffness as
compared to beams without bonded steel plates.
The method, which is easy for construction and
requires less anchorage work, can be used effec-
tively to strengthen RC beams requiring both shear
and flexural upgrading.
2. It is observed that the ultimate shear strength of a
beam with a web-bonded steel plate increases with
increasing plate depth and thickness across the
beam section.
3. An 84% increase in shear strength was obtained
for the beam with a plate thickness of 4.5 mm and
depth of 100 mm. However, since beams A-7 and
B-5 failed in flexure, the shear strengths of these
beams must be higher than the load levels defined
by flexural failure.
4. It was found that beams should be reinforced with
plates up to maximum possible sectional depth to
attain the maximum shear contribution from the
plate and to improve the flexural rigidity of the
beams.
5. The numerical analysis presented was able to pre-
dict the ultimate shear strength of plate-bonded
beams well. The model also predicted overall be-
haviour in terms of beam deflection and strains in
longitudinal reinforcement and steel plates with a
satisfactory accuracy. However, further refinement
of the model to take into account the slip between
concrete and steel plates and the effects of plate
anchors is necessary.
6. Numerical tools such as FEM can be used satisfac-
torily to study the complex shear behaviour of
plate-bonded beams, which otherwise would be very
difficult to study by ordinary methods. Moreover,
an FEM model could be an excellent tool for
carrying out detailed parametric studies for the
purpose of establishing a rational design method
for externally plate-bonded beams.
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