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Strengthening of critically designed girders with dapped ends

Article  in  ICE Proceedings Structures and Buildings · January 2005

DOI: 10.1680/stbu.2005.158.2.141

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External Strengthening of Critically Designed R. C. Girders

with Highly Stressed Dapped-Ends

BY
Salah El-Din M. Fahmy M. Taher*

ABSTRACT

Reinforced Concrete beams with dapped-ends are frequently found in bridge girder

and precast concrete construction. The reduction in depth nearby the supports tends to

produce stress concentration and hence requires special analysis and detailing of

reinforcement. Improper dimensioning and distribution of reinforcing steel lead to

undesirable cracking and failure mechanism which needs to be predicted in order that

proper strengthening system be applied. The experimental program has incorporated

fifty two specimens with dapped-ends where three main defects were intentionally

introduced at the recess zone whereas twelve strengthening techniques were applied.

These defects included inadequate development length of bottom longitudinal

reinforcement at the dapped ends, and elimination of either horizontal or vertical

shear reinforcement at the ends. External bonding of steel angle at the reentrant

corner, unbonded bolt anchoring, external steel plate jacketing, exterior carbon fiber

wrapping and/or stripping have been applied to determine the best strengthening

technique. Strut-and-tie model has been utilized in the analysis of such discontinuity

regions and a strength enhancement index procedure was introduced. Comparative

study have been carried out in order to evaluate the various strength techniques.

KEYWORDS: Reinforced concrete beams, strengthening, dapped-ends, recess zone,

strut-and-tie model, carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), carbon fiber warping
(CFW), external steel bonding, bolt anchoring.

* Associate Professors, Structural Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Tanta

University. Mailing address: 23a Anas Ibn Malik St., Al-Mohandseen 12411, Giza, Egypt.
E-mail: sftaher@yahoo.com.
1. INTRODUCTION

Reinforced Concrete beams with dapped-ends are frequently found in bridge girders

and precast/prestressed construction. Recess in the vicinity to the supports, Fig. 1-a,

is the common practice in Egypt. Several examples of precast projects including

girders with reentrant corners are given in ref. [1]. Many experimental investigations

have been conducted in order to quantify the design parameters of structures with

irregularities. Hanson [2] reported the results of testing and evaluation of pocketed

spandrel beams that included dapped-ends. French et al. [3] presented the test results

of three moment-resisting connections between precast beam-column elements

designed for regions of moderate to high seismicity. Through laboratory testing of 28

beam samples, Zielinski and Rigotti, [4] aimed at contributing to the definition of

maximum carrying capacity and rational reinforcement schemes for structures such as

deep beams, corbels, and dapped-end beams. Blaauwendraad and Hoogenboom [5]

briefly discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the strut-and-tie method and the

finite element method for the design of beams, walls, dapped beams, corbels, etc. and

introduced the so-called stringer panel model. Many investigators claimed that strut-

and-tie modelling was a valuable tool for designing such irregularity imposed by the

dapped-ends [6-8].

The unusual shape of the dapped-end beam develops a severe stress concentration at

the reentrant corner. Therefore, if suitable reinforcement is not provided close to the

reentrant corner, a diagonal tension crack may propagate rapidly and failure may

occur with little or no warning. Such diagonal cracks are not only visually

intimidating but also impose a potential danger of corrosion of reinforcing bars.

Controlling such cracking is difficult due to the lack of a rational theory for crack

prediction [9]. Generally speaking, researches on the dapped-end design had verified
 the five potential failure modes proposed by PCI [10]. These failure modes are caused

respectively by flexure and axial tension in the extended end, direct shear, diagonal

tension in the undapped portion as shown in Fig. 1-b.

Direct shear Reentrant corner

crack tension crack

Nib flexure
crack

Nib inclined
crack Diagonal
tension crack

a. Existing dapped-end girder in Moharam b. Potential failure cracks in dapped-end

Bek bridge, Alexandria, Egypt. construction [10].

Fig. 1 General features of dapped-end girders

Huang and co-workers [11, 12] focused on precast prestressed concrete double tee

members strengthened using FRP composites. Two different strengthening schemes

were used and compared to attain a better understanding of the dapped-end behaviour

and the novel upgrading method of reinforced concrete with externally bonded FRP

composites. A 0o/90o wrapping technique was used. In order to attain fiber rupture

rather than peeling, an end-anchor was added. It was demonstrated that the number of

plies (stiffness) of (FRP) reinforcement and the application of an end anchor increased

the ultimate capacity of the member. Ultimate failure by fiber rupture was achieved

for the specimen that was strengthened. Valerio and Ibell [13] used vertical steel or

fibre-reinforced plastic bars inserted into pre-drilled holes and fastened in place using

epoxy resin for shear strengthening of existing concrete bridges. Herzinger and
Elbadry [14] used mechanically anchored studs with heads as reinforcement for

dapped ends, in lieu of conventional stirrups and bars having hooks and bends to

reduce the problem of congestion of the end zone and to allow easier installation of

reinforcement and placement of concrete. Tan [15] investigated FRP systems for

shear strengthening of dapped beams. However, other strengthening systems, patterns

and configurations have not been addressed.

The main objective of this study was to experimentally evaluate the various

techniques used for externally strengthening the dapped-end using different materials

thereby simplifying the manufacturing process. The variable under investigation was

the inappropriate detailing of the reinforcement for the dapped-end including the

extension of main tensile steel beyond the reentrant corner and the vertical and

horizontal reinforcement at the extended ends. Besides the control specimen, external

bonding of steel angle (ESA) at the recess corner, unbonded inclined steel bolt

anchoring in pre-drilled hole (USB), external steel plate jacketing (SPJ), exterior

carbon fiber wrapping (CFW) within the beam stem, exterior carbon fiber reinforced

polymer (CFRP) stripping and combination of carbon fiber wrapping and strapping

have been applied to determine the best strengthening technique. A simplified

procedure has been presented using modified parameters in strut-and-tie modelling

(STM). The present work is limited to reinforced concrete members strengthened

before any loading is applied.

It has to be pointed out that at the bearing and anchorage zone there is a significant

difference in stress regime between reinforced and prestressed concrete members and

thus their behaviour in shear. The experiments which are reported hereafter deal only

with reinforced concrete. There is a conceptual difference between reinforced

concrete beams which are cast; immediately strengthened with external plates, fibers
and other methods described and then put into service; and the same type of beams

which are retrofitted with the strengthening measures after undergoing serviceability

damage such as cracking. In the former case, the ultimate load and the mode of failure

may be predicted by the type of experiment presented in this investigation. In the

latter case, loading history, nonlinear behaviour, level of pre-existing stress in the

member at the time of strengthening, structural shoring and scaffolding during

rehabilitation will affect the ultimate load capacity and energy to failure.

2. TEST PROGRAMME

Fifty two reinforced concrete rectangular beams with dapped-ends have been

subdivided into the four groups, shown in Fig. 2, with respect to the defect inherited

with respect to reinforcement detailing categorized as follows:

i- Group I: conventionally detailed reinforcement with adequate

development length of the longitudinal tension reinforcement beyond the

reentrant section with both vertical stirrups and horizontal side

reinforcement provided at the dapped zone. Such detailing was made in

accordance with strut-and-tie modelling for a tentative experimental

ultimate capacity of 69 kN [16] for the control beam GI-0. The bearing

plates were dimensioned to satisfy nodal zone stresses [17],

ii- Group II: similar to group I but with insufficient development length of the

longitudinal tension reinforcement beyond the reentrant section

iii- Group III: similar to group I but without horizontal side reinforcement in

recess zone,

iv- Group IV: similar to group I but without vertical stirrups in recess zone.
 2150 mm
2 10 Group II

100mm
8 @ 140mm
300 mm 300 mm

250mm
2150mm
Groups I, III, IV 2 10

100mm
150mm
Groups I-IV 900 mm 900 mm

8 @ 100mm 333mm 333mm

100mm

150mm 150mm
Groups I, III, IV Group II

150mm
Groups I, II, III
1600mm
mm

100mm 200mm 200mm 100mm

150

8 mm Beam width=200mm
250mm

900 mm 2 12 Groups I-IV

Groups I, II, IV

Group I-Conventionally detailed specimens

Group II-Insufficient reinforcement embedment at recess corner

Group III- Elimination of side reinforcement at ends

Group IV-Elimination of vertical stirrups at ends

Fig. 2 Reinforcement details of the four experimental groups

Nominal internal steel strengths of 400/600 and 280/350 MPa were given by the

manufacturer for longitudinal and tie reinforcements, respectively. Specimens had

intentionally exaggerated vertical scale to prevent premature flexural failure.

Although it is good practice to provide a chamfer at the reentrant corner to modify the

stress concentration, no gradual change in thickness has been made to figure out the

worst possible situation. Moreover, a significant distance (200mm) has been

dimensioned from the full depth section to the centerline of the bearing in relation to

the depth of the reduced section nib in order to allow for free rotation at the

100x200x20mm bearing plates over support after applying external strengthening at

the recess corner. Albeit inducing higher bending stresses at the reentrant corner than

might be normal with full scale girders, such dimensioning was intended to ensure

considerable nib flexural cracking which might be caused in actual circumstances by

horizontal loads caused by shrinkage, temperature movements and creep combined

with the restraint of bearings. In addition, bent up bars at the reentrant corner were not

used in order to inspect the effect of vertical stirrups separately from horizontal side

reinforcement at the dapped ends and to avoid possible reinforcement congestion for

the shallowest section with concrete cover was 25mm measured from the concrete

outer fiber to the centerline of stirrups.

The strengthening systems introduced to each of the four groups were motivated by

the possible formation of the five potential failure cracks described by the PCI [10]

for recessed beams (refer to Fig. 1-b). Tentative increase in ultimate load capacity of

15% for the strengthened specimens of Group I over the control sample GI-0 was

targeted. Several materials were employed in the experimental investigation, shown in

Fig. 3, through the following six techniques:

i- External steel angle (ESA) of 50x50x3mm epoxy-glued using Concresive

2100 [18] and positioned at the reentrant corners to control the diagonal

tension and direct shear cracks therein (specimen 1),

ii- Unbonded inclined threaded steel bolt in pre-drilled hole (USB) of 12mm

diameter aligned at 450 to control the inclined cracks within its line of

action (specimen 2),

 iii- Steel plate jacketing (SPJ) of 1.0mm thickness epoxy-glued using

Concresive 2100 [18] and bonded at the extended ends with 600mm length

on each side (specimen 3), both extended and dapped ends with 600mm

length on each side (specimen 4) and only at the reentrant zones with

200mm width (specimen 5),

iv- Inclined CFRP-Sikacarbodur S512 [19] stripping of 1.2mm thickness and

25mm total width epoxy-glued using Sikadur 30 [19] and aligned at 450 to

control the inclined cracks within its line of action (specimen 6),

v- Exterior 0.13mm carbon fiber wrapping (CFW)-Sikawrap [19] aligned

horizontally in the extended ends with 600mm length on each side

(specimen 7), both extended and dapped ends with 600mm length on each

side (specimen 8) and vertically in the reentrant zones only with 200mm

width (specimen 9), thus providing equivalent external horizontal or

vertical reinforcement,

vi- Combination of CFRP stripping and carbon fiber wrapping described in

the latter two categories thus presenting specimens 10, 11, 12,

respectively, for more control of the diagonal tension cracks.

These twelve specimens along with the control sample comprised thirteen test beam

for each of the four groups and therefore a total of fifty two specimens. Specimens

with inclined strengthening by USB for specimen 2 or CFRP stripping for

configurations 6, 10, 11 and 12 were proposed to simulate the bent-up bar action

(refer to Fig. 3). Although strengthening pattern of specimen 11 shown in Fig. 3 was

expected to provide the highest strength enhancement, configurations 3, 7 and 10 with

horizontal CFW were attempted since many of the reported failure cases [3, 8] had
indicated dominant progressive damage within the dapped ends rather than by

diagonal tension cracks at first full depth corner shown in Fig. 1-b. Specimens 9 and

11 with vertical CFW were introduced particularly for situations where vertical shear

reinforcement has been omitted in the reduced depth portions. In addition, specimens

3, 4 and 5 with SPJ were intended to utilize the isotropic properties of steel to provide

strength improvement in both the horizontal and vertical directions.

Appropriate surface treatment for each sample was applied and proper folding of the

steel jacketing and the carbon fiber wrapping was made in order to provide U-wrap.

Adequate concrete surface preparation was undertaken to mobilize considerable

increase in interface adhesive shear capacity. The unbonded inclined threaded bolt

was fastened using torque tool against plates placed on prepared surfaces through

14mm inclined UPVC pipe placed during concreting. The design concrete mix

proportion consisted of 350 kg ordinary Portland cement, 600 kg siliceous sand, 1120

kg graded gravel of maximum size particle of 10mm and water to cement ratio of

0.48. Beams were cast in reusable ply wood mold. The average nominal compressive

strength of concrete after 28 day was 25MPa for all batches with recorded difference

not greater than 1.3 MPa. The elastic range properties including Young's modulus and

Poisson's ratio were observed in the range of 21.6-23.0 GPa and 0.17-0.19,

respectively. These mechanical properties were estimated as the average results of

three 158mm standard cubes with externally mountable two centered orthogonal

strain gauges tested after 28 days.

For the control sample of group I, shown in Fig. 4, four electrical strain gauges of

10mm gauge length were mounted on each interior horizontal reinforcing bar

contributing to provide diagonal or vertical crack bridging. Demec gauges were used

to monitor the strain evolution in a mesh patterned points on the concrete surface at
the middle portion and in the end zone. Dial gauge of 0.01mm accuracy served for

deflection readings while crack meter was used to detect crack formation and its

width. Similar instrumentation was used for other samples with modifications

wherever required depending on the nature of each technique with recently calibrated

load cell. The load was applied at almost constant rate of approximately 250 kPa/s.

3. TEST RESULTS AND OBSERVATIONS

Each specimen has been subjected to quasi-static monotonic equally-spaced four-

point loading at almost constant rate. The unstrengthened control samples have shown

different modes of failure depending on the reinforcement of each group as shown in

Fig. 5-a-d. Shear cracks in the reduced depth zone, which represented the highest

stressed part in the shear span, was evident in the four specimens. However, vertical

shear cracks at the reentrant corner was noticed for specimens of group GII with

insufficient reinforcement embedment, Fig. 5-b, and of group GIII without horizontal

side reinforcement, Fig. 5-c. The former has indicated the most brittle mode of failure.

Elimination of vertical shear reinforcement in the recess zone for group GIV, Fig. 5-d,

has also shown brittle mode of failure with the widest cracking.

On the other hand, the most ductile behaviour was observed for specimens

strengthened by bolts anchoring, Fig. 5-j. Crack bridging by other external bonding

techniques was realized for all specimens until the abrupt debonding took place. This

was followed by catastrophic sudden modes of failure as illustrated in Figs. 5-e-j,

mainly dominated by brittle shear failure.

 0. Control specimens

1. External steel angle (ESA)

2. Unbonded inclined steel bolt (USB)

3. Steel plate jacketing (SPJ/1)

4. Steel plate jacketing (SPJ/2)

5. Steel plate jacketing (SPJ/3)

6. Inclined CFRP stripping (I-CF)

7. Horizontal carbon fiber wrapping CFW (H-CF/1)

8. Horizontal carbon fiber wrapping CFW (H-CF/2)

9. Vertical carbon fiber wrapping CFW (V-CF)

10. Horizontal carbon fiber wrapping CFW with

inclined CFRP stripping (HI-CF/1)

11. Horizontal carbon fiber wrapping CFW with

inclined CFRP stripping (HI-CF/2)

12. Vertical carbon fiber wrapping CFW with

inclined CFRP stripping (VI-CF)

Fig. 3 Various strengthening systems considered in the experimental program

 Fig. 4 Experimental set-up of the control specimen

In view of the modes of failure elaborated in Fig. 1-b, Tables 1-4 list the monitored

parameters of the fifty two test samples including the compressive cube strength, the

cracking load, the cracking mid-span deflection, the ultimate load, the maximum mid-

span deflection and the observed mode of failure for each individual group. The

tabulated cracking loads were considered for the first visible crack during the course

of loading or as indicated by a sudden jump in the reading of strain gauge mounted on

longitudinal tension reinforcement at the reentrant corner. Presence of tension in the

longitudinal reinforcing bar in the bottom of recess zone was implemented by the

analysis using strut-and-tie model. This was experimentally proven since the least

ultimate capacities were recorded for group GII which represented the most critical

reinforcing defect while the highest were noted for group I with conventional

reinforcement detailing.
 a. Specimen GI-0 b. Specimen GII-0

c. Specimen GIII-0 d. Specimen GIV-0

e. Specimen GI-1 f. Specimen GI-6 g. Specimen GII-1

h. Specimen GII-5 i. Specimen GIII-9 j. Specimen GIV-2

Fig. 5 Crack pattern at the ends of control beams of the four test groups and selected
strengthened samples
Generally speaking, a cause of difficulty with full scale beams is frequently the

interaction between concentrated stresses at the reentrant corner and concentrated

stresses at the bearing. This appears to have contributed to the failure mode illustrated

in Fig. 5 for specimens GI-0 and GIV-0. In some other cases, flexural stresses

contributed to the nearly vertical cracking pattern at recess corner. For instance, the

failure of test specimen GII-0 appears to reflect flexural initiation of the final

mechanism at the halving joint leading to rotation of the nib away from the main

section of the beam.

For all test specimens the highest tensile strains were developed in the vicinity to the

reentrant corner in the longitudinal reinforcement near the bottom fiber. At the verge

of failure yielding of the main reinforcement and the stirrups in the shear span was

recorded in all samples. Strain monitoring indicated that the strengthening techniques

has not become effective before first cracking. None of the strengthened specimens by

external carbon fiber stripping/wrapping bonding techniques failed due to fiber

breakage or snapping. It is worth mentioning that peeling or debonding occurred

prior to the ultimate load attributed to the insufficient saturant during impregnation.

This result indicated that the peeling of laminate due to poor installation is of great

concern.

Recorded ultimate loads indicated that reinforcement defects reduced the individual

unstrengthened control beams capacities by 40%, 6.7% and 8% for groups GII, GIII,

and GIV, respectively, relative to specimen GI-0. On the average for similar

strengthened specimens of each group relative to group GI, the least strength gain was

noted in ascending order for groups GII, GIV then GIII, respectively. Even though

with the strengthening patterns applied to group GII, the original capacity of the
unstrengthened beam GI-0 was not retrieved. This indicated the unfavorable reduction

of strength specifically due to insufficient development length of main reinforcement.

In all study cases, it was noted that strengthening enhanced the load carrying

capacities for each individual group but at different rates. The highest achieved

strength improvements were 32.0%, 57.7%, 41.4% and 42.0% for each of the four

groups, relative to the corresponding unstrengthened control specimens GI-0, GII-0,

GIII-0 and GIV-0, respectively. If compared with the reference control sample GI-0,

the maximum accomplished strength ratios were 1.32, 0.95, 1.32 and 1.31 for

strengthening configurations GI-11, GII-11, GIII-11 and GIV-12, respectively.

However, to evaluate the various strengthening techniques, a broader insight needed

to be overviewed in terms of not only strength but ductility and toughness as well.

4. COMPARATIVE EVALUATION

Fig. 6 illustrates the total applied load versus the mid-span deflection. The nonlinear

behaviour of the four unstrengthened control specimens was noteworthy. The initial

behaviour was nearly linear until first cracking with almost the same inclination for

all specimens. Similar trend was observed for the rest strengthened beams but with

different ultimate values. Beams GI-0 the GIII-0 yielded the highest load carrying

capacity and the largest deflection whereas GII-0 then GIV-0 exhibited the least total

deflections and therefore the least ductility.

Table 1 Test results and observations of group GI
Concrete Cracking Cracking Failure Ultimate
Sample strength load deflection load deflection Mode of failure
MPa kN mm kN mm
0 24.4 25 0.95 75 18.50 Shear from support followed by flexure at mid-span and nib inclined shear crack in
recess zone.
1 23.7 44 1.68 76 17.45 Ripping off in recess zone followed by shear compression.
2 25.1 40 1.50 92 24.03 Bolt yielding followed by flexure at mid-span.
3 25.4 45 1.69 81 18.30 Debonding followed by vertical direct shear crack at reentrant corner.
4 24.8 43 1.64 94 19.10
5 24.6 43 1.62 78 17.86
6 25.6 35 1.32 89 16.59 Peeling followed by simultaneous nib inclined shear at support and flexure at mid-
span.
7 25.3 39 1.49 87 22.10 Debonding followed by nib inclined shear at support. Flexural shear cracks were
8 25.4 38 1.42 96 24.20 noted in the full depth zone for GI-7.
9 24.7 31 1.21 85 21.98
10 24.1 41 1.57 93 22.40 Peeling followed by nib inclined shear at support.
11 24.8 37 1.41 99 23.10
12 25.1 35 1.33 90 25.10
Table 2 Test results and observations of group GII
Concrete Cracking Cracking Failure Ultimate
Sample strength load deflection load deflection Mode of failure
MPa kN mm kN mm
0 25.1 12 0.75 45 16.75 Vertical direct shear crack at corner.
1 25.4 25 1.47 49 14.15 Debonding followed by nib inclined shear in recess zone.
2 25.3 30 1.82 66 30.01 Yielding of bolt with flexure at mid-span.
3 24.7 33 1.92 51 24.57 Abrupt debonding followed by reentrant corner tension crack.
4 24.9 31 1.89 62 25.40
5 25.2 34 1.96 46 23.97
6 24.6 31 1.90 49 20.41 Peeling followed by reentrant corner tension crack.
7 25.6 35 1.94 55 33.64 Debonding followed by reentrant corner tension crack. Flexural shear cracks were
8 25.5 33 1.88 64 39.64 noted in the full depth zone for GII-7.
9 25.3 30 1.86 52 32.55 Vertical direct shear crack at corner
10 25.1 37 2.23 56 36.71 Peeling followed by reentrant corner tension crack.
11 24.8 35 2.06 71 41.18
12 25.6 32 1.95 54 35.87
Table 3 Test results and observations of group GIII
Concrete Cracking Cracking Failure Ultimate
Sample strength load deflection load deflection Mode of failure
MPa kN mm kN mm
0 25.3 24 1.12 70 15.01 Vertical direct shear crack at corner and multiple nib inclined shear cracks in the
recess zone.
1 25.7 21 0.99 84 12.83 Explosive debonding with simultaneous nib inclined shear at support and flexure at
mid-span.
2 25.2 22 1.10 75 20.41 Yield in bolt followed by nib inclined shear at support.
3 24.6 33 1.49 96 18.61 Debonding followed by nib inclined shear at support.
4 24.8 36 1.62 97 19.81
5 25.0 34 1.61 95 17.52
6 25.1 33 1.57 88 20.16 Peeling followed by vertical direct crack at reentrant corner.
7 25.2 33 1.59 91 22.31 Debonding followed by vertical direct crack at reentrant corner.
8 25.3 36 1.64 96 25.52
9 25.2 31 1.45 85 20.24 Debonding followed by nib inclined shear crack at support.
10 24.9 35 1.64 92 23.42 Peeling followed by vertical crack at corner.
11 25.0 37 1.71 99 27.72
12 25.1 34 1.55 90 21.01
Table 4 Test results and observations of group GIV
Concrete Cracking Cracking Failure Ultimate
Sample strength load deflection load deflection Mode of failure
MPa kN mm kN mm
0 24.1 24 1.22 69 14.34 Brittle nib inclined shear crack at support.
1 24.6 27 1.27 78 12.71 Highly explosive nib inclined shear crack between support and angle.
2 23.9 28 1.38 70 24.92 Abrupt local failure at bolt end zones and nib inclined shear at support.
3 24.5 33 1.62 90 24.99 Debonding followed by nib inclined shear crack at support.
4 25.4 33 1.67 91 26.06
5 25.1 30 1.44 86 23.17 Nib inclined shear crack between support and plate.
6 25.0 34 1.71 95 21.32 Explosive peeling followed by nib inclined shear crack at recess.
7 24.6 33 1.68 70 20.18 Debonding followed by nib inclined shear crack at support.
8 24.8 29 1.41 71 20.58
9 25.3 31 1.49 75 24.62 Debonding followed by reentrant corner tension crack.
10 25.0 30 1.47 96 21.38 Peeling followed by nib inclined shear crack at support.
11 25.1 29 1.42 96 22.85
12 24.9 30 1.43 98 25.66
 80.0
70.0
60.0
Load, kN

50.0
40.0
GI-0
30.0
GII-0
20.0
GIII-0
10.0 GIV-0
0.0
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0
Mid-span deflection, mm
Fig. 6 Load-deflection diagram for the control specimens of the four test groups.

Fig. 7 shows a comparison among the twelve strengthened specimens relative to the

control sample of group GI. The largest load carrying capacity was found to be

exhibited by specimen GI-11 followed by GI-8 and the maximum deflection was

noted to be practiced by specimens GI-12 then GI-8 followed by GI-2 while the

highest toughness evaluated by the total area under the load-deflection curve was

found to be experienced by specimen GI-8 with relatively small differences from

specimens GI-11, GI-12 and GI-2. Because bolt anchoring technique is very difficult

to be carried out in real life applications especially for deep members, easily

fabricated carbon fiber wrapping in both the reduced and full depth zones with or

without inclined CFRP stripping is recommended for strengthening beams with

conventional reinforcement detailing. For group GII specimen GII-11 showed better

performance than other strengthening techniques and similar conclusion to group GI

may be drawn for group GII which possessed insufficient steel embedment detailing

as shown in Fig. 8. This was also noticed for group III as shown in Fig. 9. On the
other hand for group IV, the maximum strength enhancement occurred for specimen

GIV-12 as shown in Fig. 10. Consistently, the maximum deflection and toughness

took place by the same sample. This indicated that the CFRP stripping along with

vertical FRP wrapping had augmented the ultimate parameters. However the

difference from specimen GIV-11 was not significant. This implied that strengthening

configuration of specimen 11 was suitable for the four reinforcement detailing

considered in the study.

Ultimate load Ultimate deflection Total toughness

180
Pe rce ntage re lativ e to control

160
140
120
sample

100
80
60
40
20
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Specimen

Fig. 7 Comparison of the ultimate load, deflection and toughness for group GI
specimens.
 Ultimate load Ultimate deflection Total toughness
Pe rce ntage re lativ e to control
450
400
350
300
sample

250
200
150
100
50
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Specimen

Fig. 8 Comparison of the ultimate load, deflection and toughness for group GII
specimens.

Ultimate load Ultimate deflection Total toughness

Pe rce ntage re lativ e to control

300

250

200
sample

150

100

50

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Specimen

Fig. 9 Comparison of the ultimate load, deflection and toughness for group III
specimens.
 Ultimate load Ultimate deflection Total toughness
Pe rce n tag e re lativ e to co n tro l

300

250

200
samp le

150

100

50

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Specimen

Fig. 10 Comparison of the ultimate load, deflection and toughness for group IV
specimens.

5. ANALYTICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Because geometrical discontinuity due to the recess existed in the shear span zone,

special deliberation needed to be considered according to St. Venant's principle [16].

Such discontinuity was recommended to be analyzed by the strut-and-tie model. Fig.

11 illustrates the various strut-and-tie models existing in the literature for the analysis

of the discontinuity (D-) region. Although Figs. 11-a and 11-b elaborate two

alternative models for dapped ends with vertical stirrups, the first is usually not

recommended due to cracks crossing the diagonal strut that inclines towards the

support especially at angle less than about 34o to the horizontal. The model shown in

Fig. 11-c depicts the beams where inclined reinforcement be provided. Fig. 11-d

illustrates the combination of the models shown in Figs. 11-b,c by the principal of
 superposition. Such a model might be used for specimens with inclined CFRP

stripping. For specimens with steel jacketing or vertical CFW at the recess corner as

provided by samples 5 and 9, a shifted vertical tie might be considered in the vicinity

to the recess section as shown in Fig. 11-e. For specimens with internal distributed

horizontal side reinforcement or specimens with steel jacketing or horizontal CFW in

the extended end, the horizontal tie is shifted upwards attributable to the load sharing

provided by these components as shown in Fig. 11-f.

a. Strut-and-tie model with b. Strut-and-tie model with c. Strut-and-tie model

vertical stirrups [17]. vertical stirrups [16]. with inclined
reinforcement [16].

d. Strut-and-tie model with e. Strut-and-tie model with f. Strut-and-tie model

vertical stirrups and inclined shifted vertical tie. with shifted
reinforcement [16]. horizontal tie.

Fig. 11 Schematic representation of the strut-and-tie models for various cases.

The appropriate model should be employed for analyzing each of the strengthened

beams depending on the applied configuration. A computer program was developed

for implementing the STM calculations as pre-mentioned and was validated against

the predictions of the program CADADE [20] for its available built in models. The

STM results were noted to yield relatively conservative predictions where the nodal

zone design parameters were noted to control the overall beam capacity. A corrective

procedure has been introduced which was motivated by the fact that strengthening

techniques provided by steel jacketing or CFRP wrapping and/or stripping provided

concrete confinement and therefore enhanced the strength parameters. Therefore, it

was prudent to suggest an adaptation factor that magnified the nodal zone concrete

strength and carry out the analysis with modified values that accounts for the

confinement effect achieved by strengthening.

For this purpose, an iterative scheme was established in the computer program flow

with loop over incremental increase for the value of the compressive strength of each

specimen without changing any other parameter. The iterations continued until the

experimental ultimate capacity was achieved with 10% tolerance. This process was

carried out for all specimen for which the final results, after convergence was

achieved, are illustrated in Fig. 12. The diagrams describe the mutual correlation

between the corrected STM ultimate load obtained by the computerized iterative

scheme versus the recorded experimental results.

The strength magnification parameter denoted by "the strength index,  " was

obtained by statistical analysis of the results obtained by the corrected STM through

the computerized iterative scheme against the recorded test data within 95%

confidence level. Table 5 lists the estimated values of the strength index for the

various strengthening techniques of the four groups. Hence the concrete strength fc

was substituted by fc in the analysis by the suggested modified strut-and-tie model.

The analysis by the proposed simplified procedure yielded results with difference of
not more than 8% from the experimental observations with an average of 4.6% for all

specimens.
Experimental ultimate load, kN

100

Experimental ultimate load, kN

80
95
70
90

85 60

80
50
75

70 40
70 80 90 100 40 50 60 70 80
Corrected STM ultim ate load, kN Corrected STM ultim ate load, kN

a. Group I b. Group II
Experimental ultimate load, kN

110 Experimental ultimate load, kN 100

90
100

80
90
70

80 60
80 90 100 110 60 70 80 90 100
Corrected STM ultim ate load, kN Corrected STM ultim ate load, kN

c. Group III d. Group IV

Fig. 12 Comparison between the corrected STM predictions and experimental
ultimate loads

Table 5 Evaluated strength index for the proposed simplified analysis procedure.
Strengthening 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Technique
Strength 1.22 1.33 1.16 1.22 1.17 1.27 1.14 1.29 1.42 1.27
index, 

The proposed procedure was found suitable for the analysis of beams with dapped

ends when the strengthening system provides the equivalent dapped-end

reinforcement required by the PCI Design Handbook [10]. The PCI design

requirements was claimed to be very conservative by Huang and his co-workers

[11,12]. That's why this condition was satisfied for most of the investigated beams.
Another condition for the applicability of the proposed procedure was the appropriate

fabrication and the skilful workmanship for the strengthening system. Of course, the

results demonstrated in this part are limited the experimental program presented in the

manuscript. However, the methodology can be applied for other comparable cases in a

similar manner.

6. CONCLUSIONS

On the basis of the behaviour of the tested specimens with dapped ends and the

evaluation of the recorded data, the following conclusions were drawn:

1. The mode of failure was mainly influenced by the introduced reinforcement

detailing defect in the recess zone.

2. The most critical reinforcement detailing was the insufficient development

length of longitudinal reinforcing steel at the bottom fiber of the reduced depth

beyond the reentrant corner.

3. Externally bonded FRP strengthening systems constituted a viable solution to

retrofit/repair applications. This was due to the enhanced pseudo-ductility and

strength enhancement provided by the strengthening technique once the

concrete had experienced cracking.

4. Easily fabricated horizontal carbon fiber wrapping in both the reduced and full

depth zones with inclined CFRP stripping is recommended.

5. The appropriate strut-and-tie model should be selected according to the

applied strengthening technique and the corresponding confinement effect has

to be implemented in the analysis.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The present work is part of a research project on reinforced concrete beams with

variable depth. The facilities provided by the reinforced concrete lab at the Faculty of

Engineering, Tanta University, Egypt, are highly appreciated. Thanks are due to Dr.

Fawzy, T. M., and Dr. Khalil, A. A., for partially supervising the preparation of

twenty four samples.

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