J Mech Behav Mater 2015; 24(1-2): 35–46
Saptarshi Sasmal* and S. Kalidoss
Nonlinear FE simulations of structural behavior
parameters of reinforced concrete beam with
epoxy-bonded FRP
Abstract: In the present study, investigations on fiber-rein-
forced plastic (FRP) plated-reinforced concrete (RC) beam
are carried out. Numerical investigations are performed by
using a nonlinear finite element analysis by incorporating
cracking and crushing of concrete. The numerical models
developed in the present study are validated with the results
obtained from the experiment under monotonic load using
the servo-hydraulic actuator in displacement control mode.
Further, the validated numerical models are used to evalu-
ate the influence of different parameters. It is found from
the investigations that increase in the elastic modulus of
adhesive layer and CFRP laminate increases the interfacial
stresses whereas increase in laminate modulus decreases
the displacement and reinforcement strain of the beam. It is
also observed that increase in the adhesive layer can largely
reduce the interfacial stresses, whereas increase in lami-
nate thickness increases it. However, increase in laminate
thickness decreases the displacement and reinforcement
strain of the beam significantly. It is mention worthy that
increase in laminate length reduces the interfacial stresses,
whereas CFRP width change does not affect the interfacial
stresses. The study will be useful for the design and practic-
ing engineers for arriving at the FRP-based strengthening
schemes for RC structures judiciously.
Keywords: cracking-crushing; epoxy; interfacial shear;
nonlinear analysis; strengthening.
DOI 10.1515/jmbm-2015-0004
1 Introduction
Most of the reinforced concrete (RC) structures in the
world are facing a deterioration problem due to the aging
*Corresponding author: Saptarshi Sasmal, Scientist, Bridge
Engineering Group, CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Center,
CSIR Complex, Taramani, Chennai-600113, India,
Phone: +91-44-22549210, Fax: +91-44-22541508,
e-mail: saptarshi@serc.res.in; sasmalsap@gmail.com
S. Kalidoss: Project Assistant (Former), CSIR-Structural Engineering
Research Centre, CSIR Complex, Taramani, Chennai-600113, India
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of structure, environmental changes, and revised loading
condition, which leads to the survival problem against
the load carrying capacity of the structure. It can be
solved either by demolishing the structure to construct
the new one, or retrofitting can be done in the existing
structure. Demolishing the existing structure and con-
structing a new one is economically not viable and is a
waste of resources. On the other hand, retrofitting is
cost effective, and it is done without the need of demol-
ishing the structure and prevents resource wastage. So
it is a preferable technique to strengthen the structures.
Though strengthening with steel plates is one of the tra-
ditional methods for flexural strengthening, its accept-
ability is limited due to the difficulty in the application
procedure and is less durable. Strengthening of RC beams
done by attaching high tensile strength materials such
as steel, and fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) laminates to
its bottom is a technique being used since the last three
decades. In recent years, FRP laminate bonding or sheet
bonding has become popular, and it has enormous tensile
strength, while concrete is low in it. Also, the unit weight
of FRP laminates is low compared to steel. So, it is being
a preferable external strengthening technique for the RC
elements. Even though it has enormous strength, achiev-
ing full strength in the laminate-bonded beams are pre-
vented due to interfacial debonding, FRP fracture, flexure,
and shear cracks induced local stresses at the interfaces,
etc. Out of all the failure patterns, debonding failure is
considered as a vital failure; the main reason is that the
full flexural strength of the laminates will not be utilized
effectively. Debonding either may be of concrete cover
failure or peeling of the plate from the adhesive layer. It
happens because of the accumulation of high interfacial
shear stress and normal stress between the adhesive-to-
concrete (ATC) interface and the plate-to-adhesive (PTA)
interface [1]. The tensile forces created in the plate due
to the loading on the beam are transferred as the inter-
facial stress to the adhesive layer. Overall, experimental
investigations are widely chosen to get the actual behav-
ior of the structural components. Though it exhibits the
real responses, it consists of time-consuming processes
such as casting, curing, etc. Also, capturing the responses
36      S. Sasmal and S. Kalidoss: Response of FRP strengthened RC beams
from the beam with the help of proper instrumentation
is crucial in conducting the experimental investigation.
In the case of parametric studies of the beams, for each
study, a separate beam has to be cast and tested. Overall,
it is a costly and time-consuming process compared to the
modern arrival of finite element software analyses (FEA).
The FEA is considered as the best method for investigat-
ing the behavior of the structures. In the present paper, a
general purpose finite element software ANSYS has been
chosen for the numerical studies. In ANSYS, the behavior
of the different geometries has been defined as element
types. Numerical study of RC beam with finite element
software was carried out by Ngo and Scordelis [2] with 2-D
triangular element to model the concrete, steel reinforce-
ment, and the bond links between the steel and concrete,
and also, the general analytical method was developed for
the RC for full range loading. Swamy et al. [3] studied the
behavioral response of glued steel plates attached to RC
beams at different load levels. It has been reported that the
ultimate flexural strength of the beam can be enhanced
up to 15% by attaching the glued steel plates at tension
sides and the design criteria to ensure the flexural capac-
ity and ductile failure of the plated beam. Ritchie et al. [4]
carried out the experimental investigation on strength-
ened RC beams by using different fibers, such as carbon,
glass and aramid; also, an iterative analytical method was
developed to predict the stiffness and maximum strength
in bending of the strengthened beam. Five rectangular
and one T-beam with GFRP plates at tension sides were
tested to failure in destructive basis in the laboratory
in [5]. It was reported that the epoxy bonded plates can
improve the cracking behavior of the beam by delaying
the formation of visible cracks, reducing the crack width
at higher load levels. Arduini et al. [6] presented the ana-
lytical and numerical models to simulate the failure of the
RC beam strengthened by FRP plates and flexible sheets.
The results from the numerical and analytical studies were
compared with the experimental results carried out in the
laboratory and also the effect of FRP type, FRP thickness,
and bond length over failure were shown. Failure modes
and methodologies to characterize the failure processes
in plated beams have been elaborately discussed in [7].
It was reported that the failure of the beam is that it can
become brittle after attaching the plate, and the param-
eters affecting the failure modes of the plated beam have
also been discussed.
Various methods using carbon fiber-reinforced
polymer (CFRP) were developed by Anil [8] for strengthen-
ing RC beams against shear. The width of the CFRP straps,
arrangements of straps along the shear span, and anchor-
age technique that were applied at the ends of the straps
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are the main parameters that were investigated during the
experimental study, and the results were compared with
those obtained from the analytical formulations. Bisby
and Ranger [9] presented the experimental studies on
circular FRP-confined RC columns under eccentric axial
loads. Based on the performance obtained from the exper-
imental studies, theoretically developed P-M interaction
diagrams for FRP-confined columns were validated.
Investigations of load bearing capacity of eccentri-
cally compressed RC columns strengthened with CFRP
strips and sheets are discussed by Bisby and Ranger [9].
The study is helpful to estimate the influence of change-
able longitudinal CFRP reinforcement intensity on load
bearing capacity of columns.
Experimental and numerical investigations of FRP-
bonded beams were performed by Kachlakev et al. [10].
A detailed study of flexural and shear strengthened
beams by using FRP composites has been explained,
and the crack patterns, load vs. displacement scheme
obtained from numerical were compared with the exper-
imental results obtained from the laboratory. Accuracy
of using finite element modeling for analysis of RC and
prestressed concrete beams has been discussed in [11].
The results obtained from the numerical study were com-
pared with experimental and hand-calculated results
by means of load vs. deflection scheme. Prediction of
rupture and delamination failure of the FRP layers on
the strengthening process was studied by Toutanji et al.
[12]. It has been reported that more FRP layers increases
the debonding failure, while less layers failed under
the rupture of FRP laminates. The effect of reinforce-
ment ratio used in strengthened beams is discussed in
[13]. The paper states that a higher reinforcement ratio
lowers the strengthening effect under static loading; in
the case of sustained loading, induced creep deforma-
tion due to long-term loading is stored after the unload-
ing of the specimen, lowering the load carrying capacity
when the specimen is reloaded even for a short term.
Britton et al. [14] carried out the study for the prediction
of failure load in the epoxy used in FRP-strengthened
beams. Also, the epoxy thickness effect on the ultimate
load prediction by using the linear brick elements for
the epoxy layer was discussed. A procedure for devel-
oping the bond-slip relations for near surface-mounted
(NSM) CFRP bars embedded in concrete using nonlinear
finite element models was recently proposed by Sasmal
et  al. [15]. Few important parameters such as the effect
of tensile strength of epoxy adhesive, diameter of CFRP
rods, influence of the presence of ribs by varying the
rib diameter and rib spacing were investigated. Further,
comprehensive 3-D nonlinear finite element (FE) analysis
 S. Sasmal and S. Kalidoss: Response of FRP strengthened RC beams      37

of RC beams strengthened with prestressed NSM CFRP 2 Geometry of the beam

strips is reported in [16]. A constitutive confined concrete
model for flexural member was assigned as a material
property for concrete material. Prestressing was applied
to the CFRP strips by adopting the equivalent tempera-
ture method. The debonding effect at the epoxy-concrete
interface was considered in the model by identification
of fracture energies of the interfaces.
From the in-depth review, it was found that nonlin-
ear analysis of RC structure with FRP is extremely few and
not adequate. Specifically, it is not clearly reported how
to simulate concrete cracking/crushing behavior in an
FRP-strengthened RC member where reinforcements are
not simply modeled as smeared. Further, the influence
of various design parameters for developing strengthen-
ing schemes is also scanty. Further, two most important
design forces, i.e., normal stress and interfacial shear
stress, which are responsible for delamination or rupture
in FRP/epoxy/concrete need detailed study to bring the
insight into the mechanics. Experimental investigation
along with numerical investigation is carried out for two
different beams, one is without any strengthening scheme
and another one is with two strips of CFRP laminate at
the bottom of the beam. This paper mainly focuses on the
methodology for the finite element analysis of laminated
beam with adhesive interface modeling and the param-
eters affecting the interfacial stresses and the strength of
the beam.
In the present study, two RC beams are taken with a
dimension of 3300 mm × 300 mm × 300  mm and effective
span of 3000 mm. The beam that has no strengthening
scheme is named as the “control beam”; the beam that
has two laminates in its bottom is named as “CFRP beam”.
The FRP beam has two laminates, each one with a dimen-
sion of 2600 mm × 50 mm × 1.2 mm. These laminates are
attached to the beam by a 2-mm-thick epoxy compound
as an adhesive agent. Figure 1A and B, depicts the typical
dimensions of the Control beam and the CFRP beam. The
beam is analyzed for the simply supported condition with
a two-point load application.
3 Material properties
Simulating the behavior of RC elements in numerical
analysis is a quite complex task. Basically, concrete is a
brittle material, and reinforcing steel is a linear material
with ductile behavior, both combined, and produces a
nonlinear inelastic material called RC. It performs as a
linear material up to a certain level of loading, the so-
called elastic range. After the elastic range, to see the
inelastic behavior of concrete through conducting non-
linear analysis, a separate stress-strain relationship is

A P/2 P/2

8 dia-200 mm c/c 2-10 dia

1-25 dia
300 2-16 dia

1000 300
3000
3300

P/2 P/2
B

2600
3300 50
100

Bottom view All dimensions are in mm

Figure 1: Dimension of (A) control beam and (B) CFRP beam.

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38      S. Sasmal and S. Kalidoss: Response of FRP strengthened RC beams

provided. In ANSYS, the stress-strain behavior of the con- Table 1: Material properties used in the numerical study.
crete can be defined by using the von-Mises or Drucker-
Prager yield criterion. While using the von-Mises yield Component   Material property   Values

criterion, the multilinear isotropic hardening is used to Concrete   Modulus of elasticity (Gpa)  31.30
plot the ­relationship. Numerical expressions [17], Eqs. (1)   Poisson’s ratio   0.2
and (2) were used along with Eq. (3) [18] to construct the   Open shear coefficient   0.2
  Closed shear coefficient   1
uniaxial compressive stress-strain curve for concrete in
Steel plate (support   Modulus of elasticity (Gpa)  200
this study. and loading plate)   Poisson’s ratio   0.3
Reinforcement bar   Modulus of elasticity (Gpa)  200
Ec ε
f= 2
  Poisson’s ratio   0.3
 ε (1)   Yield stress (Gpa)   0.5
1+   CFRP laminate   Modulus of elasticity (Gpa)  165
 ε0 
 (isotropic material)   Poisson’s ratio   0.3
Epoxy adhesive   Modulus of elasticity (Gpa)  5.8
2 fc′
ε0 = (2)   Poisson’s ratio   0.3
Ec

f
Ec = (3)
ε
reinforcing bar is achieved by fixing 5 mm ERS (electronic
where, f is the stress at any strain ε, fc′ is the ultimate resistance strain) gauges at each L/8th location of the
compressive strength corresponding to the strain of ε0. beam. The ERS gauges of 60  mm are used for the strain
The tensile strength and modulus of elasticity of the beam measurement of the concrete surface. The strain gauge is
can be calculated from the following expressions, connected into a data logger by using the quarter bridge
2 configuration. After ensuring the instruments’ working
 E  (4) condition, the beam is loaded with displacement control
fc′=  c 
 5000   with the rate of loading of 0.4 mm/min.
Strengthening of the beam is achieved by attaching
fr = 0.7 fc′ (5) the CFRP laminates at the bottom side of the beam. Two
laminates are attached to either side of the centerline of
where Ec is the modulus of elasticity of concrete, fc is the
1

the cross section of the beam. The bottom surface of the

uniaxial compressive stress, and fr is the ultimate tensile
beam is prepared to ensure better anchorage of the lami-
stress of the RC beam.
nates. Then, the laminates are cleaned with acetone to
Reinforcing steel, CFRP laminate, and adhesive layer
make sure it is dust free. The epoxy adhesive consists of
are modeled with linear stress-strain relationship. Also,
two different materials A and B. The two materials are
studies related to interfacial stresses are carried out fully
mixed properly until it reaches a grayish color. This com-
with linear material properties to get the pure interfacial
pound is applied for a thickness of 2 mm, 1  mm on the
failure of the beam.
concrete surface and 1  mm over the laminates. After the
In actual case, the making of concrete with the same
application of the compound, the CFRP plate was placed
material property cannot be achieved. So, for each beam,
and pressed. A heavy object is placed on the laminates to
different cylinders and cubes are tested. The average of
ensure perfect bonding of the laminates in the concrete
the properties is tabulated in Table 1.
surface, and the laminated beam is cured for 3–5 days.
Once the curing period is complete, the beam is instru-
mented with ERS (electric-resistant strain) gauges for
4 Experimental program testing. Figure 2 shows the instrumentation and laminate
attachment of the beam.
Initially, the control beam is tested after 28 days of curing
period with some typical instrumentation. Normally,
instrumentation of the beam is done for deflection meas-
urement, strain measurement in reinforcement, and 5 Numerical modeling
concrete surface. Displacement is measured with linear
variance distance transducer (LVDT) mounted at each Numerical analyses of the beams are performed by
L/6th location of the beam. Measuring the strain in the using finite element analysis software ANSYS [19]. Finite

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 S. Sasmal and S. Kalidoss: Response of FRP strengthened RC beams      39
Figure 2: Typical instrumentation and laminate attachment on the beam.
element analysis requires meshing of the model. So, the
convergence study is carried out to determine an appro-
priate mesh density. The graph is plotted between the
different mesh sizes and the deflection for the particular
load. Figure 3 shows the convergence study of the plain
concrete beam. Twenty-five millimeters has been taken
as a mesh density for strength evaluation. In the case of
parametric study about the interfacial stresses, a quarter
of the laminated beam is modeled due to symmetry with
the mesh size of 2 mm along the length of the laminate.
The concrete is modeled using SOLID65 element,
which is a 3-D structural RC solid element. This element
is capable of cracking in tension and crushing in compres-
sion. It is defined by eight nodes having three translational
degrees of freedom at each node. The important aspect of
this element is the treatment of nonlinear material proper-
ties. Though SOLID65 is a RC element, the reinforcement
capability of this element was not considered in this study.
Figure 4A shows the geometry of SOLID65 element.
All the reinforcements are modeled separately using
Link8, a 3-D spar element, which is a uniaxial tension-
compression element defined by two nodes with three
translational degrees of freedom at each node. This Link8
0.2
Displacement (mm)
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
75 50 37.5 25
Mesh size (mm)
Figure 3: Convergence study of the plain concrete beam.
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element is also capable of plastic deformation. Figure 4D
shows the geometry of LINK8 element. To model the
epoxy layer, steel plates at the supports and at the point
of application of the load, SOLID45, a 3-D structural
solid element is used. Figure 4B shows the geometry of
SOLID45 element.
CFRP is modeled using SOLID46 element. SOLID46 is
a layered solid element, and it can be used to define the
CFRP laminates as either an isotropic or orthotropic mate-
rial property. The element allows for up to 100 different
material layers with different orientations and orthotropic
material properties in each layer. The element has three
degrees of freedom at each node and translations in the
nodal x, y, and z directions. Figure 4C shows the geom-
etry of Solid46 element. The discussed elements are used
for appropriate materials to simulate their actual behav-
ior. Figures 5 and 6 show the numerical modeling of the
control and CFRP beam.
5.1 Nonlinear solution and failure criteria
In this study, the total load applied is divided into a series
of load increments (or) load steps. The Newton-Raphson
equilibrium iterations provide convergence at the end of
each load increment within tolerance limits. Usually, the
finite element discretization process yields a set of simul-
taneous equations,
[ K ]{ u } = { F a } (6)
If the coefficient matrix [K] is itself a function of the
unknown DOF values, then, Eq. (6) is a nonlinear equa-
tion. {u} is the vector of the unknown DOF. The Newton-
Raphson is an iterative process of solving the nonlinear
equations and can be written as
[ KiT ]{ ∆ui } = { F a }-{Fi nr } (7)
40      S. Sasmal and S. Kalidoss: Response of FRP strengthened RC beams

A B

C D

Figure 4: Geometry of (A) Solid65, (B) Solid45, (C) Solid46, (D) Link8.

Figure 5: Numerical model of the control beam along with reinforcement modeling.

Concrete element

Epoxy FRP laminate

Figure 6: Numerical model of CFRP beam with adhesive layer modeling.

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 S. Sasmal and S. Kalidoss: Response of FRP strengthened RC beams      41

{ ui+1 } = { ui } + { ∆ui } (8) Displacement measured by using LVDTs at L/3 and L/2 in
the laboratory test is compared with the ANSYS displace-
Both [K iT ] and {Fi nr } are evaluated based on the
ment results. In ANSYS, the displacement values are taken
values given by the displacement vector {ui}. The right-
from the reinforcement nodes to avoid the disturbance in
hand side of Eq. (7) is the residual load vector. {Fa} is the
the results due to the cracking and crushing behavior of
applied load vector, and {Fi nr } is the restoring force vector
the concrete elements. The numerical result shows good
calculated from the element stresses. Figure 7 shows the
agreement with the experimental results up to 50% of
use of the Newton-Raphson approach in a single degree of
ultimate load of experimental results. Beyond that, the
freedom nonlinear analysis.
results from the numerical simulation are stiff compared
As seen in Figure 7, more than one iteration are
to the experimental results. This is due to the assumption
needed to obtain a converged solution. As an initial step,
of the perfect bond between steel and concrete (Obaidat
this method assumes {u0} is the converged solution from
[20]). Figures 8 and 9 show the load-displacement scheme
the previous time step. Next, it computes the updated
of the control beam and the CFRP-laminated beam.
tangent matrix [K iT ] and the restoring load {Fi nr } from
Figure 10 shows the crack pattern of the control beam
configuration {ui}. Then, it calculates {Δui} from Eq. (8),
and the FRP beam at different load levels. It is found that
and it is added with {ui} to obtain the next approxima-
the cracks in the CFRP beam are well distributed, and the
tion {ui+1}. It continues these steps until convergence is
propagation of the cracks into the compression zone is
obtained. During concrete cracking and crushing, if it is
postponed when compared with the control beam. The
found that the convergence of solutions for the models is
effectiveness of strengthening is analyzed separately
difficult, the tolerance limit can be increased to achieve
for both experimental and numerical studies. Figures 11
the converged solutions. Another way is the smaller load
and  12 show the experimental and numerical results of
increment and increased iterations, which may help to get
the control and CFRP beams. It shows that after the first
the converged solutions.

300

6 Results and discussion 250

200
6.1 Validation of numerical results
Load (kN)

150

Results from the numerical models carried out by using 100

AtL/3-Num
AtL/3-Exp
ANSYS are compared with the experimental results AtL/2-Num
obtained from the laboratory test. Both control and CFRP 50
AtL/2-Exp
beam results are validated with experimental labora- 0
tory results by means of load vs. displacement scheme. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Displacement (mm)

Figure 8: Load vs. displacement for the control beam.

Load
Converged solution

350

300

250
Load (kN)

200
Unconverged iterations AtL/3-Num
150
AtL/3-Exp
100
AtL/2-Num
50 AtL/2-Exp
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Displacement Displacement (mm)

Figure 7: Newton-Raphson approach for single degree of freedom. Figure 9: Load vs. displacement for the CFRP beam.

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42      S. Sasmal and S. Kalidoss: Response of FRP strengthened RC beams

At 50 kN

At 80 kN

At 100 kN

At 150 kN

At 200 kN

At 250 kN

Figure 10: Crack pattern of the control and the CFRP beam.

300 6.2 Parametric study

250
A detailed parametric study is carried out to see the vari-
200 ation in displacement, reinforcement bar strain, and
Load (kN)

150
the changes in the interfacial stress concentration cor-
responding to the changes in the geometric and mate-
100 rial properties of the CFRP beam. Accordingly, one of the
Control beam
50 parameters of the beam is changed, while the remaining is
CFRP beam
kept constant – the same as the CFRP beam in each study.
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 The varied parameters in the study include the elastic
Displacement (mm) modulus of the CFRP laminate and the adhesive layer, the
thickness of the CFRP laminate and the adhesive layer, and
Figure 11: Experimental results.
the length and width of the laminate. Displacement and
reinforcement strain at midspan is witnessed at 270 kN,
while variations in the interfacial stresses are observed at
350 150 kN. It is found in literature that the interfacial stresses
300 vary along the thickness of the adhesive layer; the stresses
at the mid of the adhesive layer have the singularity in the
250
stress concentration than the PTA and ATC interfaces [21].
Load (kN)

200
Also, ANSYS calculates two different stress values for each
150 node that exists at interfaces with respect to the materials
100 that are bonded with it. So, adhesive material stresses at
Control beam
the mid of the section are reported in the following study.
50 CFRP beam
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60

6.3 E
 ffect of the adhesive elastic modulus
Displacement (mm)

Figure 12: Numerical results. and CFRP modulus

A change in the elastic modulus of the adhesive layer and

crack, the beam stiffness kept increasing toward the ulti- CFRP laminate is taken up in this study to see the effect
mate load, and also, it improves the load carrying capacity of the elastic modulus on the interfacial stresses and the
to a larger extend after the yielding of reinforcement when strength evaluation of the beam. Accordingly, three differ-
compared with the control beam result. ent elastic modulus 2, 4, and 6 GPa for the adhesive layer

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 S. Sasmal and S. Kalidoss: Response of FRP strengthened RC beams      43

and 200, 250, and 300  GPa for the FRP laminates have 4
been used. Figures 13 and 14 show the variation of inter- 3.5 200 GPa
facial stresses with respect to the changes in the elastic 3
250 GPa
300 GPa

Shear stress (MPa)

modulus of the adhesive layer and the CFRP laminate. It
2.5
is clearly known that increase in the elastic modulus of
2
the adhesive layer and CFRP laminate increases the inter-
facial stresses. Figure 15 shows the variation of displace- 1.5

ment and strain with respect to the changes in the elastic 1

modulus of the adhesive layer and laminate. Increase in 0.5

the laminate modulus decreases the displacement and 0
reinforcement strain of the beam. But, there is an uncer- 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12
Distance from laminate end (m)
tainty that exists in increasing the elastic modulus of the 4.5
adhesive layer. 4 200 GPa
Three different thicknesses, 2, 3, and 4 mm, are taken 3.5 250 GPa
in this study to see the effect of adhesive thickness on 3 300 GPa

Normal stress (MPa)

the interfacial stresses and load carrying capacity of the 2.5
2
beam. Figures 16 and 17 show the variation of the interfa-
1.5
cial stresses with respect to the changes in the thickness
1
of the adhesive layer. It can be seen that an increase in the 0.5
adhesive layer can reduce the interfacial stresses largely, 0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12
whereas an increase in the laminate thickness increases -0.5
it. Figure  18 shows the variation of displacement and -1
Distance from laminate end (m)
strain with respect to the changes in the thickness of
the adhesive layer and the laminate. An increase in the Figure 14: Effect of elastic modulus of the CFRP laminate on interfacial
stresses.

2 GPa 30
2.5
4 GPa
Displacement (mm)
Shear stress (MPa)

2 6 GPa 25

1.5 20

1
15

0.5
10
1 2 3
0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 Number of study
Distance from laminate end (m)
3.5
3 2 GPa 3000

2.5 4 GPa 2800

Normal stress (MPa)

2 6 GPa
Micro strain

2600
1.5
1 2400

0.5 2200
0
2000
-0.5 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 1 2 3
Number of study
-1
Distance from laminate end (m)
Figure 15: Effect of the elastic modulus of the CFRP laminate and
Figure 13: Effect of elastic modulus of the adhesive layer on interfa- adhesive layer on strength (box-control beam, partial cone changes
cial stresses. in CFRP modulus, cylinder changes in adhesive modulus).

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 44      S. Sasmal and S. Kalidoss: Response of FRP strengthened RC beams

3
30
2 mm
2.5 3 mm

Displacement (mm)
4 mm 25
Shear stress (MPa)

20
1.5

1 15

0.5
10
1 2 3
0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 Number of study
Distance from laminate end (m)
3.5
3000
3 2 mm
2.5 3 mm 2800
Normal stress (MPa)

4 mm

Micro strain
2 2600
1.5
2400
1
0.5 2200

0 2000
-0.5 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 1 2 3
-1 Number of study
Distance from laminate end (m)
Figure 18: Effect of thickness of the CFRP laminate and the adhe-
Figure 16: Effect of the adhesive layer thickness on interfacial sive layer on strength (box-control beam, partial cone changes in
stresses. CFRP thickness, cylinder changes in adhesive thickness).

6 laminate thickness decreases the displacement and rein-

2 mm forcement strain of the beam significantly. But, there is an
5 3 mm uncertainty that exists in increasing the thickness of the
4 mm
Shear stress (MPa)

4 adhesive layer.

2
6.4 Length and width of FRP laminate
1
Over the width of the CFRP laminate, 100, 200 and
0 300 mm and 1000, 1500, and 2000 mm over the length of
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12
Distance from laminate end (m) the laminate are made in this study to see the variation of
6 the interfacial stresses and strength changes of the beam.
5
2 mm Figures 19 and 20 show the variation of interfacial stresses
3 mm
with respect to the geometric changes of the CFRP lami-
Normal stress (MPa)

4 4 mm
nate. It is found that increase in laminate length reduces
3 the interfacial stresses, whereas CFRP width change does
2 not affect the interfacial stresses.
The effect on displacement and reinforcement strain
1
with the changes in CFRP laminate length and width is
0 shown in Figure 21. A change in length works better when
-1
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 the laminate length crosses the constant moment zone to
Distance from laminate end (m)
varied moment zone significantly (i.e., from 1000 mm to
Figure 17: Effect of the CFRP laminate thickness on interfacial 1500 mm). After that, significant changes are not found
stresses. on the displacement and reinforcement strain of the

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 S. Sasmal and S. Kalidoss: Response of FRP strengthened RC beams      45

12
30
1000 mm
10 1500 mm

Displacement (mm)
2000 mm 25
Shear stress (MPa)

20
6

4 15

2
10
1 2 3
0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 Number of study
Distance from laminate end (m)
16
3000
14 1000 mm
12 1500 mm 2800
Normal stress (MPa)

10 2000 mm

Micro strain
2600
8
6 2400
4
2200
2
0 2000

-2 1 2 3
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 Number of study
-4
Distance from laminate end (m)
Figure 21: Effect of length and width of CFRP laminate on strength
Figure 19: Effect of CFRP laminate length on interfacial stresses. (box-control beam, partial cone changes in CFRP length, cylinder
changes in CFRP width).

beam. But, an increase in the laminate width reduces the

3 displacement and reinforcement strain of the beam to a
2.5
100 mm greater extent.
200 mm
300 mm
Shear stress (MPa)

1.5 7 Conclusions
1
FRP-based strengthening techniques for RC structure
0.5 have become popular due to its enormous tensile strength
and low strength-to-weight ratio. Further, by using FRP,
0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 the typical durability problems of steel plate strength-
Distance from laminate end (m) ening techniques can easily be avoided. Even though it
3.5
has enormous strength, achieving full strength of the
100 mm
3
200 mm
laminate-bonded beams are prevented due to interfacial
2.5
debonding, FRP rupture, and flexure and shear crack-
Normal stress (MPa)

300 mm
2 induced local stresses at the interfaces, etc. In the present
1.5 study, numerical investigations are performed by using a
1 nonlinear finite element analysis. Experimental studies
0.5 are also carried out on the FRP-plated RC beam under
0 monotonic load using the servo-hydraulic actuator in dis-
-0.5
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 placement control mode. Further, the validated numerical
-1 models are used to evaluate the influence of the effect of
Distance from laminate end (m)
the elastic modulus of the CFRP laminate and the adhe-
Figure 20: Effect of CFRP laminate width on interfacial stresses. sive layer, the thickness of the CFRP laminate and the

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46      S. Sasmal and S. Kalidoss: Response of FRP strengthened RC beams
adhesive layer, the length and width of the laminate on the
structural responses such as normal and interfacial shear
stress in the laminate, the displacement and strength of
and strain development in the RC beam strengthened with
FRP. The concrete is modeled using RC element Solid65
element, which is a 3-D structural RC solid element. All
the reinforcements are modeled separately using Link8,
a 3-D spar element, and CFRP is modeled using SOLID46
element.
The effectiveness of strengthening is analyzed sepa-
rately for both experimental and numerical studies. It
shows that after the first crack, the beam stiffness kept
increasing toward the ultimate load, and also, it improved
the load carrying capacity to a larger extent after the yield-
ing of reinforcement when compared with the control
beam result. It is found from the investigations that an
increase in the elastic modulus of the adhesive layer
and the CFRP laminate increases the interfacial stresses,
whereas an increase in the laminate modulus decreases
the displacement and reinforcement strain of the beam.
It is also observed that an increase in the adhesive layer
can largely reduce the interfacial stresses, whereas an
increase in the laminate thickness increases it. However,
an increase in the laminate thickness decreases the dis-
placement and reinforcement strain of the beam signifi-
cantly. It is mention worthy that that an increase in the
laminate length reduces the interfacial stresses, whereas
CFRP width change does not affect the interfacial stresses.
The study will be useful for the design and practicing engi-
neers in arriving at the FRP-based strengthening schemes
for RC structures judiciously.
Acknowledgments: The paper is being published with
the kind permission of the Director, CSIR-SERC, Chennai,
India.
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