Engineering Structures 256 (2022) 113956

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Engineering Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engstruct

Experimental study on pre-damaged RC beams shear-strengthened with

textile-reinforced mortar (TRM)
Liying Guo a, Mingke Deng a, b, *, Hui Chen a, Ruizhe Li a, Xiangkun Ma a, c, Yangxi Zhang a, b
a
School of Civil Engineering, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an 710055, China
b
Key Lab of Structural Engineering and Earthquake Resistance, Ministry of Education (XAUAT), Xi’an 710055, China
c
China Fortune Land Development Co., Ltd, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: An experimental investigation of pre-damaged reinforcement concrete (RC) beams strengthened in shear with
Textile-reinforced mortar (TRM) textile-reinforced mortar (TRM) is reported in this paper. Eight RC beams, including a control beam and seven
Shear strengthening beams strengthened with U-shaped TRM jacket, were constructed and tested under four-point bending mono­
Pre-damaged degrees of RC beam
tonic load. The investigated parameters included (a) the reinforcement ratios of carbon textiles, (b) the pre-
Level of the sustaining load
Shear capacity
damaged degrees of the RC beam before strengthening, and (c) the levels of the sustaining load on RC beams
during the strengthening process. The test results indicated that (1) TRM strengthening could completely restore
the mechanical properties of the pre-damaged RC beams, and the shear capacity of the beams was increased by
18.32–67.45% after strengthening. (2) The shear capacity of the pre-damaged strengthened beams was smaller
than that of the non-damaged strengthened beams with identical strengthening scheme. 3 As the sustaining load
on the beams to be strengthened increased, the failure of the specimens changed from shear-compression mode
to diagonal-tension mode, and the shear capacity of the strengthened beams decreased. Finally, a modified model
was proposed to predict the shear capacity of TRM-strengthened beams based on the current code. This model
considered the effects of the pre-damaged degree and the sustaining load level.

1. Introduction
The shear failure of RC beams in building structures is brittle and
irreparable, which usually brings disastrous consequences. However,
existing RC beams may suffer different degrees of shear deficiency
owing to the accidents and errors made during the design or construc­
tion stage, natural disasters, increase in applied loads, aging, and lack of
maintenance [1–3]. Thus, an efficient strengthening approach is
required to repair and improve the structural performance of existing
shear-deficient RC beams.
In recent years, a class of promising strengthening systems called
textile-reinforced mortar (TRM) has been introduced to upgrade existing
buildings owing to the advantages of high temperature resistance, good
compatibility with concrete structures, friendly to workers, and small
size change to the original structure [4–7]. TRM system consisted of two
parts: fiber textile and inorganic matrix. TRM was also known as textile-
reinforced concrete (TRC) [8–11] and fabric-reinforced cementitious
matrix (FRCM) [12–14]. Some researchers [13–24] have conducted the
shear strengthening of RC beams using TRM. The results indicated that
the shear capacity of the RC beams increased after strengthening and the
failure mode changed from brittle to ductile. However, textile slippage
in mortar and debonding between the interface of the TRM and concrete
substrate were frequently observed [16,21]. This was due to the low
elongation of mortar and poor matching performance between mortar
and textile, which consequently resulted in low textile efficiency [23].
Blanksvärd et al. [25] and Yang et al. [26] concluded that the matrix
with higher ductility and fracture toughness can promote the efficient
use of textiles, and the shear strengthening effectiveness of TRM can be
further enhanced. Hinzen et al. [27] and Dong et al. [28] indicated that
adding short polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers to TRM could improve the
toughness of the matrix and the interface performance between textile
and matrix. Generally, mixing short PVA fibers into the TRM is an
effective and available method of increasing the efficiency of textiles.
Most previous studies focused on the material constituents of TRM
[14,15,23–26], structural details of RC beams [19–22], strengthening
forms [21,29] and end-anchorage measures [16,17,30]. These in­
vestigations on TRM shear strengthening focused only on non-damaged
or non-preloaded RC beams. However, in practice, most RC structures

* Corresponding author at: School of Civil Engineering, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an 710055, China.
E-mail address: dengmingke@126.com (M. Deng).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2022.113956
Received 1 September 2021; Received in revised form 4 January 2022; Accepted 28 January 2022
Available online 5 February 2022
0141-0296/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
L. Guo et al. Engineering Structures 256 (2022) 113956

that require strengthening are in a damaged state. Moreover, some RC

components cannot be completely unloaded before strengthening. Pre­
vious studies did not consider the influences of initial damage and sus­
taining load levels on the shear strengthening effectiveness of TRM.
Therefore, the application of TRM on shear-damage RC beams needs to
be studied to clarify its effectiveness in practical engineering.
This study aimed to investigate the shear behaviors of pre-damaged
RC beams after strengthening them with U-shaped TRM jacket. The TRM
was optimized by adding short PVA fibers to improve the effectiveness of
the TRM. The investigated parameters were (a) the reinforcement ratios
of carbon textiles, (b) the pre-damaged degrees of the RC beam, and (c)
the sustaining load levels. The failure mode, load–deflection curve, and
strain development of steel bars and textiles were analyzed. Finally, a
revised formula was proposed to evaluate the shear capacity of TRM-
Fig. 1. Carbon textile.
strengthened beams.

2. Experimental program Table 2

Technical specifications of single carbon roving.
2.1. Materials
Elastic Tensile Ultimate Mass Density Across- Section
modulus strength strain (g/ (g/cm3) sectional area
2.1.1. Concrete (GPa) (MPa) (%) m2) area (mm2/
All beams were cast using the same concrete. The measured average (mm2) m)
cubic compressive strength of the concrete (fcu) was 44.5 MPa. The 239 3600 1.41 160 1.74 0.88 44
measured average axial compressive strength of the concrete (fc) was
30.6 MPa. The cubic compressive strength was measured by three cubes
with 150 × 150 × 150 mm3 in dimension. The axial compressive Table 3
strength was measured by three prisms with 150 × 150 × 300 mm3 in Mix proportion of the matrix (kg/m3).
dimension.
Cement Fly Silica Mineral Sand Water Water PVA
ash fume powder reducer fiber
2.1.2. Steel bars
447 494 59 177 424 353 8 26
The mechanical properties of the steel bars used in this study are
listed in Table 1.
the matrix were measured by three dog-bone-shaped samples, as rec­
2.1.3. Textile ommended by Ref. [32].
A balanced bidirectional carbon grid was used in this study. The The uniaxial tensile samples TRM-2 and TRM-3 were designed to
carbon textile was woven from high-strength carbon rovings in two obtain the tensile properties of the TRM composite. TRM-2 and TRM-3
orthogonal directions. The mesh spacing is 20 mm × 20 mm (Fig. 1). The represented the TRM samples embedded in two and three layers of
warp fiber bundles were twisted, and the weft fiber bundles were un­ carbon textiles, respectively. Each textile layer contained three weft
twisted. The opening grid was coated with epoxy resin. The technical carbon bundles in the tensile direction. Each group contained three
specifications of the single carbon roving are given in Table 2. The samples with the same configuration. According to Kouris’s [7] sum­
technical specifications of the carbon rovings were tested according to maries on the size of the TRM tensile sample and the recommendation of
Code GB/T 36262–2018 [31]. ACI 549.4R-13 [33], the dimensions of the TRM uniaxial tensile samples
are shown in Fig. 2.
2.1.4. Short PVA fiber-reinforced cementitious matrix The average tensile strengths of TRM-2 and TRM-3 were 7.88 MPa
The short PVA fiber-reinforced cementitious matrix was employed as and 10.38 MPa, respectively. The tensile stress–strain curves and crack
the matrix of the TRM. Considering the effect of short PVA fibers on the patterns of all tensile samples are shown in Fig. 3. Under uniaxial tensile
workability of the matrix and tensile behaviors of TRM, the volume action, the TRM composite showed high tensile strength, stable strain-
content of PVA fibers was 1.5% [28]. The mix proportions of the matrix hardening behavior, and multi-cracking mechanism. The failure
are listed in Table 3.
The measured average cubic compressive strength and axial
compressive strength of the matrix were 50.6 MPa and 45.2 MPa,
respectively. The average cubic compressive strength and axial 45 15 230 15 45
compressive strength of the matrix were measured by three cubes (100
15

× 100 × 100 mm3) and three prisms (100 × 100 × 300 mm3), respec­
tively. The average tensile strength and ultimate tensile strain of the
matrix were 3.5 MPa and 0.70%, respectively. The tensile properties of
50

LVDT
Table 1 CFRP tabs
15

Mechanical properties of steel bars.

The type Diameter Elastic Yield Ultimate Yield
of steel d (mm) modulus Es strength fy strength fu strain εy
100 150 100
15

bars (GPa) (MPa) (MPa) (με)

HPB300
HRB400
6.5
18
210
200
342.7
437.5
507.7
610.0
1632
2188
Gauge Length
HRB400 25 200 450.0 620.0 2250
Fig. 2. Dimensions of the tensile sample (mm).

2
L. Guo et al.
12
10
8
Stress/MPa
6
4
TRM-2
2 TRM-3
0
0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2.0
Strain/%
(a) Stress–strain curves
Fig. 3. Uniaxial tensile test results of the TRM samples.
process and tensile properties of the TRM composite were described in
detail in Ref. [28]. A formula was proposed to calculate the tensile
strength of the TRM when the volume content of PVA fibers and the
reinforcement ratio of textile were given [28].
2.2. Specimen design
Eight RC beams were constructed. All original beams had a total
length of 1700 mm and a cross-section of 200 mm × 300 mm (width ×
depth). The thickness of the concrete cover was 20 mm. Two 18 mm-
diameter ribbed steel bars (HRB400) and three 25 mm-diameter ribbed
steel bars (HRB400) were used as the longitudinal compressive and
tensile reinforcements of the beams, respectively. 6.5 mm-diameter
plain steel bars (HPB300) were applied as the hoops at a spacing of 200
mm. The geometry and reinforcement arrangements of the original
beams are shown in Fig. 4. Such design was expected to fail in the shear-
dominated mode. The shear behavior and failure mechanism of RC
beams strengthened with TRM could then be studied.
The details of all specimens are presented in Table 4. The varied
parameters were the reinforcement ratios of textile, pre-damaged de­
grees of the RC beams and sustaining load levels. Specimen C-B was un-
strengthened, as the control specimen. The other seven specimens were
strengthened with U-shaped TRM jacket. The strengthened specimens
were divided into two series. Series 1 included two non-damaged RC
beams strengthened with TRM. Series 2 included five pre-damaged RC
beams strengthened with TRM. After curing for 28 days, specimen C-B
was loaded until failure. The two specimens in series 1 were directly
strengthened at 28 days. The five specimens in series 2 were subjected to
the first loading at 28 days to induce shear damage. Then, the damaged
specimens were strengthened. The strengthened specimens were cured
for 60 days and subjected to a second loading until failure.
In the column “pre-damaged degree” of Table 4, Dc was the pre-
damaged degree up to the appearance of the first shear crack, Dy was
up to the yield of the stirrup, and Df was up to shear failure. The ratios of
Fig. 4. Geometry and reinforcement arrangement of the original beam (mm).
3
Engineering Structures 256 (2022) 113956
(b) Cracks pattern
the pre-damaged load of Dc and Dy to the peak load of the control
specimen were 47% and 56%, respectively. For Df, the carrying capacity
decreased to 85% of the peak load when the original beam was pre­
loaded. S0.5 was for unloading half of the existing load and S1 was for not
unloading.
The four loading conditions (a), (b), (c) and (d) are described in
Fig. 5. In Fig. 5(c), P1 and P2 are the pre-damaged loads corresponding
to Dc and Dy, respectively.
(a) Beam (specimen C-B) was loaded once until failure.
(b) Beams (specimens T2-B and T3-B) were firstly strengthened, and
then loaded once until failure.
(c) Beams (specimens T2-DcB, T2-DyB and T2-DfB) were firstly
loaded to the required pre-damaged degree, unloaded
completely, strengthened, and then reloaded until failure.
(d) Beams (specimens T2-DcS0.5B and T2-DcS1B) were firstly loaded
to the required pre-damaged degree, maintained the required
level of load, strengthened, and then loaded until failure.
2.3. Strengthening method
The U-shaped TRM jacket was applied over the entire length of the
beams, and the construction process was as follows:
(1) Roughening the concrete surface and rounding the two bottom
edges of the beam;
(2) Removing any loose particles on the surface and wetting the
beam;
(3) Troweling the first-layer matrix on the pre-wetted surface, 2–3
mm in thickness;
(4) Embedding the first-layer textile into the first-layer matrix;
(5) Paving the second-layer matrix to completely cover the textile
and smoothing the surface.
L. Guo et al. Engineering Structures 256 (2022) 113956

Table 4
Main parameters of specimens.
Series Specimen ID The number of textile layers Pre-damaged degree The level of the sustaining load Loading condition Cross-section (mm × mm)

/ C-B / / / (a) 200 × 300

Series 1 T2-B 2 / / (b) 230 × 315
T3-B 3 / / (b) 230 × 315
Series 2 T2-DcB 2 Dc Unload completely (c) 230 × 315
T2-DyB 2 Dy Unload completely (c) 230 × 315
T2-DfB 2 Df Unload completely (c) 230 × 315
T2-DcS0.5B 2 Dc Unload half (d) 230 × 315
T2-DcS1B 2 Dc Not unload (d) 230 × 315

Load Load

Total time Total time

Strengthening and
Curing time
(a) (b)
Load Load
0.85P

P2
P1 P1

0.5P1

Strengthening and Total time Strengthening and Total time

Curing time Curing time
(c) (d)
Fig. 5. Four different loading conditions.

The remaining textiles were applied by repeating the steps (4) and
(5). The construction of the subsequent matrix was required to be Hydraulic jack
completed before the initial setting of the upper matrix. Load sensor
Steel beam
2.4. Test setup

All specimens were tested under four-point bending monotonic

loading with a displacement rate of 0.06 mm/min (Fig. 6). The load was Test beam
applied by a 1000kN-capacity servo-hydraulic actuator that was verti­
cally positioned. The applied vertical load was distributed to two
Steel support
loading points through a steel beam. The effective lengths of the shear
span and flexural span were 520 mm and 460 mm, respectively. 100 520 460 520 100
Five linear variable differential transformers (LVDTs) were
Fig. 6. Four-point bending test setup.
employed to measure the vertical displacements at the two supports, two
loading points, and the mid-span point of the beams. To obtain the
3. Test results and discussion
strains of stirrups and textiles, we installed strain gauges with the sizes
of 5 mm × 3 mm and 3 mm × 2 mm on the surface of stirrups and
3.1. Failure mode
vertical carbon bundles, respectively. The locations of the LVDTs and
strain gauges are shown in Fig. 7.
All the specimens failed in shear-compression mode, except

4
L. Guo et al. Engineering Structures 256 (2022) 113956

Fig. 7. Location of LVDTs and strain gauges.

specimens T2-DcS0.5B and T2-DcS1B failed in diagonal-tension mode, as (4) Pre-damaged strengthened specimens under sustained load
shown in Fig. 8. (Specimens T2-DcS0.5B and T2-DcS1B)

(1) Control specimen (Specimen C-B) The diagonal-tension failure mode occurred on specimens T2-DcS0.5B
and T2-DcS1B. After the first shear crack appeared, it rapidly developed
For specimen C-B, some small vertical cracks firstly appeared at the into a critical diagonal crack extending toward the loading point. Then,
bottom of the mid-span zone. With the increase of the applied load, the main diagonal crack widened suddenly, and the beam ruptured into
shear cracks occurred near support region and extended along the line two parts by the main diagonal cracks. Fewer flexural cracks appeared
connecting the loading point and the support. Subsequently, the stirrups on specimens T2-DcS0.5B and T2-DcS1B.
yielded, and the shear cracks widened. Finally, the concrete at the The initial stress and deformation of the RC beams caused the strain
loading point region was crushed under shear-compression composite lag of the strengthening layer, which decreased the development of the
stress. tension stress of the TRM. As a result, the confinement control of the
TRM on the shear cracks weakened and specimen T2-DcS0.5B and T2-
(2) Non-damaged strengthened specimens (Specimens T2-B and T3- DcS1B failed in the tension-dominate mode.
B)
3.2. Load–deflection curve
The failure process of the strengthened beams was similar to that of
the control beam. The non-damaged strengthened beams failed in shear-
The load–deflection curves of all specimens are shown in Fig. 9. The
compression mode with clear fracture of the TRM layer. Compared with
main test results are given in Table 5, including the shear cracking load
the control specimen, the strengthened specimens exhibited a dense
(Pcr), yield load (Py), yield deflection (Δy), peak load (Pm), peak
crack distribution around the main shear crack and lighter damage of
deflection (Δm), ultimate deflection (Δu) and ductility factor (μ). μ = Δu/
the concrete in the compression zone. The number of shear cracks
Δy. The yield points of the specimens were determined by the geometric
increased as the reinforcement ratio of textile increased.
graphic method [34]. The ultimate points were determined as the point
The shear-compression failure of specimen T3-B was accompanied
where the carrying capacity was reduced to 85% of the maximum load.
by debonding failure. The debonding failure of specimen T3-B occurred
In Table 5, the ultimate deflection of all pre-damaged specimens was
in the concrete substrate rather than the interface between the RC beam
defined as the mid-span deflection produced during the second loading.
and strengthening layer, and the debonding failure only occurred on the
The mid-span deflection of specimens before strengthening (Δ1) and the
north side. This may result from the stiffness difference between the
deflections that produced during sustaining load (Δ2) are listed in
inner concrete and the TRM strengthening layer. Such peeling in spec­
Table 5.
imen T3-B demonstrated excellent bond performance between the ma­
trix and concrete structure.
3.2.1. Effect of the reinforcement ratio of textiles
As shown in Fig. 9(a), in the ascending part, the slopes of the
(3) Pre-damaged strengthened specimens that were completely
load–deflection curves of specimens T2-B and T3-B were larger than that
unloaded before strengthening (Specimens T2-DcB, T2-DyB and
of specimen C-B. This indicated that the TRM jacket could effectively
T2-DfB)
increase the stiffness of RC beams. Following the development of shear
cracks, the load–deflection curve of the control specimen appeared
Before strengthening, only one shear crack was observed on speci­
apparent turning, resulting in a decrease in stiffness. However, the
mens T2-DcB and T2-DyB, and large widespread diagonal cracks and
decrease in the stiffness of the strengthened specimens was slower than
crushing of concrete occurred on specimen T2-DfB.
that of the control specimen because the TRM hindered the development
All pre-damaged strengthened beams that were unloaded completely
of shear cracks.
before strengthening failed in shear-compression mode. The concrete at
For the strengthened beams, the gain in the shear capacity increased
the loading point was crushed and the wide shear cracks appeared in the
as the reinforcement ratio of textile increased. Compared with specimen
shear span region. The cracks pattern of pre-damaged specimens T2-DcB
C-B, the shear capacities of specimens T2-B and T3-B increased 53.42%
and T2-DyB were almost the same as that of non-damaged specimen T2-
and 67.64%, respectively. When shear cracks appeared in the beams, the
B. Compared with specimen T2-B, the number of flexural cracks reduced
TRM can directly increase the shear resistance of the beams as tension
and the height of flexural cracks decreased in specimen T2-DfB. This
webs in the truss model. And the TRM can effectively restrain the
indicated that severe damage before strengthening was detrimental to
development of shear cracks, which delayed the degeneration of the
the deformation of the strengthened beams.
aggregate interlock force. As a result, TRM strengthening can effectively
enhance the shear capacity of RC beams.
Compared with specimen C-B, the ultimate deflections of specimens

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L. Guo et al. Engineering Structures 256 (2022) 113956

C-B

T2-B

T3-B

T2-DcB

T2-DyB

T2-DfB

T2-DcS0.5B

T2-DcS1B

Fig. 8. Failure mode of specimens.

T2-B and T3-B were increased by 18.37% and 35.54%, respectively. The
ductility factors of specimens T2-B and T3-B were larger than that of
specimen C-B. This demonstrated that the TRM jacket could effectively
delay the brittle shear failure process and achieve a relatively ductile
behavior.
3.2.2. Effect of pre-damaged degree
The load–deflection curve of pre-damaged specimen T2-DcB almost
coincided with that of non-damaged specimen T2-B. The stiffness of the
strengthened specimens decreased with the increase of pre-damaged
degrees. Despite specimen T2-DfB was an intense state of shear dam­
age after the first loading, at the same deformation level, the load of
specimen T2-DfB was higher than that of specimen C-B.
Compared with specimen C-B, the shear capacity of specimens T2-
DcB, T2-DyB and T2-DfB were increased by 43.75%, 53.78% and
18.32%, respectively; the ultimate deflections of specimen T2-DcB, T2-
DyB and T2-DfB were increased by 14.12%, 12.24% and 14.12%,
respectively. This showed that the TRM jacket completely restored the
structural properties of damaged beams and significantly increased their
shear capacity.

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L. Guo et al. Engineering Structures 256 (2022) 113956

600 600
500 500
400 400

Load/kN

Load/kN
C-B
300 300 T2-B
200 200 T2-DcB
C-B
T2-B T2-DyB
100 yielding 100
T3-B T2-DfB
0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Deflection/mm Deflection/mm

(a) Different reinforcement ratios of textile (b) Different pre-damaged degrees of RC beam

600
500
Load/kN

400
300 C-B
200 T2-DcB
T2-DcS0.5B
100 T2-DcS1B
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Deflection/mm

(c) Different levels of the sustaining load

Fig. 9. Load–deflection curves.

Table 5
Test results of all specimens.
Specimen ID Δ1 (mm) Δ2 (mm) Pcr (kN) Py (kN) Δy (mm) Pm (kN) Δm (mm) Δu (mm) μ = Δu/Δy Failure mode

C-B / / 173 331.72 4.55 367.56 5.40 5.88 1.29 SC

T2-B / / 330 471.67 4.71 563.90 6.58 6.96 1.48 SC
T3-B / / 410 538.26 5.87 616.18 7.45 7.97 1.36 SC + D
T2-DcB 0.63 / 330 416.60 4.02 528.38 6.22 6.71 1.46 SC
T2-DyB 0.61 / 280 553.42 5.77 565.22 6.25 6.60 1.26 SC
T2-DfB 2.59 / 223 424.90 5.41 434.91 5.86 6.71 1.30 SC
T2-DcS0.5B 0.79 0.50 320 441.10 3.72 498.76 4.91 5.62 1.51 DT
T2-DcS1B 1.31 0.55 280 449.66 3.68 485.03 4.48 5.24 1.42 DT

Note: SC is shear-compression failure; DT is diagonal-tension failure; D is debonding failure.

Compared with non-damaged specimen T2-B, the shear capacities of
pre-damaged specimen T2-DcB and T2-DfB were decreased by 7.2% and
22.9%, respectively. At a low pre-damaged degree, the strength of the
concrete was slightly affected, and the deterioration of the mechanical
properties of the shear reinforcements was negligible. The strain lag of
the strengthening layer was not obvious owing to the small residual
deformation. At a high pre-damaged degree, the concrete and re­
inforcements were damaged seriously, accompanied by the noticeable
strain lag of the strengthening layer. Therefore, severe damage before
strengthening can result in a substantial loss in the shear capacity of the
strengthened beams.
The shear capacity of pre-damaged specimen T2-DyB was very close
to that of non-damaged specimen T2-B. This may be since the residual
deformation of specimen T2-DyB was small and the tensile strength of
the TRM layer fully exploited.
3.2.3. Effect of the level of the sustaining load
After strengthening, the slopes of specimens T2-DcS0.5B and T2-
DcS1B became larger than that of specimen C-B. This indicated that the
damage of shear cracks to stiffness was compensated by the external
TRM jacket. At the same load level, as the sustaining load increased, the
corresponding deflections increased. The deformation resistance ca­
pacity of specimens decreased with the increase of the sustaining load
level.
Compared with specimen C-B, the shear capacities of specimen T2-
DcB, T2-DcS0.5B and T2-DcS1B increased 43.75%, 35.69% and 31.96%,
respectively. When the mid-span deflection before the second loading
was considered, the total deflections of specimen T2-DcB, T2-DcS0.5B
and T2-DcS1B increased 24.83%, 17.52% and 20.75%, respectively,
compared with that of specimen C-B. The strengthening effectiveness
decreased as the sustaining load level increased. This was because the
strain-lag behavior of the strengthening layer was significant as the
initial stress increased. In an actual reinforcement project, the RC beams
that need to be strengthened should be unloaded as much as possible.
3.3. Strain analysis
The yield of the longitudinal reinforcements did not occur in any
specimen before the peak point. The strain development of the stirrups
and vertical carbon bundles is presented in Fig. 10.

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L. Guo et al. Engineering Structures 256 (2022) 113956

800 800
Yield line

600 600

Load/kN

Load/kN
400 400

C-B
200 200
T2-B T2-B
T3-B T3-B
0 0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
Stirrup strain(×10 )-6
Carbon bundle strain(×10-6)
(a) Different reinforcement ratios of textile
800 800
Yield line

600 600

Load/kN
Load/kN

400 400
T2-B T2-B
T2-DcB T2-DcB
200 T2-DyB 200 T2-DyB
T2-DfB T2-DfB
0 0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
Carbon bundle strain(×10-6) Carbon bundle strain(×10-6)
(b) Different pre-damaged degrees of RC beam
800 800
Yield line

600 600
Load/kN

Load/kN

400 400
C-B
T2-DcB T2-DcB
200 T2-DcS0.5B 200 T2-DcS0.5B
T2-DcS1B T2-DcS1B
0 0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
Stirrup strain(×10-6) Carbon bundle strain(×10-6)
(c) Different levels of the sustaining load

Fig. 10. Load–strain curves.

3.3.1. Effect of the reinforcement ratio of textiles
The increase in stirrup strain of specimens T2-B and T3-B was slower
than that of specimen C-B. This indicated that TRM strengthening can
effectively postpone the occurrence of shear cracks and inhibit the
development of shear cracks. At the peak point, the stirrup strains of
specimens T2-B and T3-B were smaller than that of specimen B-C. This
indicated that the TRM jacket could share the shear force experienced by
the stirrups, resulting in the decrease of the stirrup strain. Moreover, the
peak strain of specimen T3-B was the least. This could be explained that
the TRM layer carried more tension stress with the increase of the
reinforcement ratio of textile.
As shown in Fig. 10(a), the load at the strain turning point of carbon
bundle was higher than that of the stirrup. This indicated that the stir­
rups and short PVA fibers carried tension stress at the beginning of shear
cracks development. The textiles were activated with the development
of cracks. After the stirrups yielded, the strain of textile developed
rapidly, and the carrying capacity of the beams continued to increase.
3.3.2. Effect of pre-damaged degree
As shown in Fig. 10(b), before the second loading, the stirrup of
specimens T2-DcB and T2-DyB showed little residual strain, and the
stirrups of specimen T2-DfB had large residual strain. This showed that
severe shear damage significantly affected the performance of the stir­
rups. The yield of stirrups accelerated as the pre-damaged degree
increased. The shear damage before strengthening caused large shear
cracks, leading to that the stirrups carried earlier the shear force when
the strengthened beams were reloaded.
At the peak point, the strain value of the vertical carbon bundle of
pre-damaged specimens T2-DcB, T2-DyB and T2-DfB was smaller than
that of non-damaged specimen T2-B. This indicated that the damage
before strengthening could cause the strain lag of the strengthening
layer, decreasing the utilization of the textile. The maximum strain
recorded in specimen T2-DfB was approximately 2000 με, which was
about quarter of that observed in specimen T2-B. The effectiveness of the
textiles of the specimen with severe damage was much lower than that of
the specimen without damage.
3.3.3. Effect of the level of the sustaining load
As shown in Fig. 10(c), before strengthening, the development of
stirrups strain with the load in specimen T2-DcS1B was very close to that

8
L. Guo et al. Engineering Structures 256 (2022) 113956

in specimen C-B. When the first shear crack appeared on the RC beams,
the strain of the stirrups began to increase. After strengthening, the in­
ternal stress of the beams was redistributed. At a load of 170 – 250 kN,
the stirrup strain of specimen T2-DcS1B did not sharply increase with the
increase of load. This indicated that the appearance of new shear cracks
was delayed owing to the high tensile stress of the matrix. Subsequently,
the carbon textile of specimen T2-DcS1B could resist the shear force
together with the stirrups, delaying the yield of the stirrup.
At the peak point, the strain value of the stirrup and textile increased
as the sustaining load level increased. This was because the failure mode
of specimens changed from shear-compression mode to shear-tension
mode. Owing to the effect of the stress lag of the newly added jacket,
the effectiveness of TRM jacket in restraining the development of shear
deformation decreased with the increase of the sustaining load level.
4. Shear capacity
According to Code GB 50376–2013 [35], the shear capacity of RC
beams strengthened with U-shaped jacket (Vn) can be calculated by Eq.
(1) based on the superposition principle.
Vn = VRC + Vj
where VRC and Vj are the shear capacities provided by the original RC
beams and the newly added jacket, respectively.
The shear capacity of RC beams can be calculated with existing
formulas. In Code GB 50011–2010 [36], the shear capacity of RC beams
(VRC) can be calculated by superimposing the shear contributions of
concrete and stirrups.
1.75 Asv fyv
VRC = Vc + Vs = ft bh0 + h0 cotθ
λ+1 s
where Vc is the shear capacity carried by concrete; Vs is the shear ca­
pacity carried by stirrups; λ is the ratio of the shear span (a) to the
effective depth (h0), λ = a/h0, h is the height of the beam cross-section,
h0 = 0.9 h; the tensile strength of concrete can be calculated by ft =
0.395fcu0.55
[36]; b is the width of RC beam; Asv is the cross-sectional area
of stirrups within one stirrup spacing (s) in the direction of the beam
width; fyv is the yield strength of stirrups; θ is the angle between shear
cracks and the horizontal axis of beams. In Ref. [37], the range of θ is
25◦ –45◦ . In this study, the shear cracks developed along the line con­
necting the loading point and the support, θ = h/a and θ should be
29.98◦ herein.
In the existing analytical formulations for calculating the shear
contribution of TRMs without short fibers, the inorganic matrix was
considered to be an adhesive, and only the shear contribution of textiles
was considered [15]. However, in this study, the bridging effect of short
PVA fibers could effectively inhibit the widening of the diagonal cracks,
thus the shear strength provided by the short PVA fiber-reinforced ma­
trix cannot be ignored. When the existing formula was used to predict
the shear strength of the TRM with PVA fibers, the result was over-
Table 6
The value of the influence coefficient k0 and k1.
conservative. The calculated formula proposed by Escrig et al. [15] is
showed in Eq. (3). The calculated results were listed in column 3 and 4 of
Table 7 according to Eq. (3).
Vf = 2nεfe,f Ef ttex h0 (cotα + cotθ)sin2 (α)
in which n is the number of the textile in the composite layer; εfe,f is
the effective strain of fiber roving, εfe,f can be obtained according to the
Ref [15]; Ef is the elasticity modulus of single fiber roving; ttex is the
equivalent thickness of the textile, ttex = Af,s/sf, Af,s is the area of the
cross-section of single roving, sf is the spacing between the mid-rovings;
α is the angle between the fiber bundle and the longitudinal axis of the
beam.
In this study, the TRM composite was considered as a material. The
tensile stress of the TRM composite layer was uniformly distributed in
the side of beams. The U-shaped TRM jacket can be treated as tension
webs because the shear resistance mechanism of the TRM was similar to
that of the stirrups. The shear capacity of the TRM can adopt the same
expression as that of the stirrups. The shear capacity of the newly added
TRM jacket can be calculated by Eq. (4). The tensile strength of the TRM
composite (ft,TRM) was used to evaluate the shear contribution of the
TRM jacket. Thus, the contribution of both carbon textile and PVA fiber-
(1)
reinforced matrix were considered.
ATRM
Vj = kfe ft,TRM hcotθ (4)
sTRM
where ATRM is the cross-sectional area of the TRM layer within one TRM
stripe spacing (sTRM) , ATRM = 2tsTRM in this study, t is the thickness of
the strengthening layer; kfe is the global reduction coefficient of the
TRM, the reduction of the carrying capacity of the TRM should be
(2) considered under shear-tension action, and kfe was equal to 0.66 for θ =
29.98◦ according to Ref. [8,38]. ft,TRM can also be calculated theoreti­
cally according to Ref. [28].
Substituting Eq. (4) and Eq. (2) into Eq. (1), the shear capacity of
TRM-strengthened beams can be expressed as Eq. (5).
1.75 Asv fyv
Vn = ft bh0 + h0 cotθ + 2tkfe ft,TRM hcotθ (5)
λ+1 s
However, the influence of the damage degree of RC beams on the
shear capacity was not taken into account in the existing design guide­
lines [3,39]. The shear contributions of the original RC beams and the
strengthening material were overestimated under severe shear damage.
For the pre-damaged beams strengthened with the TRM jacket, the
formula for calculating the shear capacity can be revised as Eq. (6).
1.75 Asv fyv
Vn = k0 ( ft bh0 + h0 cotθ) + k1 (2tkfe ft,TRM hcotθ) (6)
λ+1 s
where k0 is the influence coefficient of the damage degree on the shear
capacity of the original RC members, and k1 is the influence coefficient
of the damage degree on the shear contribution of the strengthening
Table 7
Comparison of experimental results and predictions.
Specimen ID Vex/kN V1/kN V1/Vex Vn/kN Vn/Vex

Type of strengthened beams k0 k1 C-B 183.78 156.01 0.85 156.01 0.85

{ T2-B 281.95 205.26 0.73 236.99 0.84
For the pre-damaged 1.0 Vi ⩽0.6Vo T3-B 307.75 215.71 0.71 262.68 0.85
k0 = k1 =
strengthened beams that 0.8 Vi > 0.6Vo T2-DcB 264.19 205.26 0.78 236.99 0.90
{
were unloaded completely 1.0 Vi < Vo [39] T2-DyB 282.61 205.26 0.73 236.99 0.84
before strengthening 0.85 Vi = Vo T2-DfB 217.46 172.01 0.79 197.39 0.91
For the pre-damaged k0 = 1.0 k1 = T2-DcS0.5B 249.38 205.26 0.82 236.99 0.95
⎧
strengthened beams under ⎨ 1.0 Vi ⩽Vc T2-DcS1B 242.52 205.26 0.85 236.99 0.98
sustained load V − Vc Average / / 0.78 / 0.89
⎩1− i Vi > Vc
Vo − Vc Coefficient of variation / / 0.10 / 0.09
[35]
Note: Vex is the experimental shear capacity. Vex = Pm/2. V1 is the calculated
Note: Vi is the pre-damaged load of RC beams before strengthening, and Vo is the results according to the analytical model proposed by Escrig et al. [15], V1 = VRC
ultimate shear carrying capacity of the un-strengthened beams. + Vf.

9
L. Guo et al.
layer. The values of k0 and k1 are listed in Table 6.
Unloading before strengthening is beneficial to the shear capacity of
strengthened beams. In the strengthening design, if the beams to be
strengthened are not completely unloaded, the shear capacity of the
strengthened beams can be calculated using the calculation method of
the pre-damaged strengthened beams under sustained load.
A comparison between the test results and calculated values for all
specimens are listed in Table 7.
The average value of the ratio of the predicted value to the test value
was 0.89 and the variable coefficient was 0.09. The reliability of the
proposed formula for estimating the shear capacity of pre-damaged RC
beams strengthened with TRM was verified.
5. Conclusions
In this study, the U-shaped TRM jacket was applied to strengthen
shear-damaged RC beams. The following conclusions were drawn:
(1) All the strengthened specimens failed in shear mode associated
with the rupture of the textile. The addition of short PVA fibers
improved the efficiency of textiles in the TRM layer.
(2) Compared with the control beam, the shear capacity and ultimate
deflection of the non-damaged beams strengthened with TRM
were increased by 53.42–67.45% and 18.37–35.54%, respec­
tively. The shear capacity and ultimate deflection of the
strengthened beams increased as the reinforcement ratio of
textile increased.
(3) Compared with the control beam, the shear capacity and ultimate
deflection of the pre-damaged beams strengthened with the TRM
were increased by 18.32–53.78% and 12.24–14.12%, respec­
tively. TRM strengthening system can completely restore the
damaged RC beams and significantly increase their shear capac­
ity. When the pre-damaged degree was not above the yield of the
stirrups, the increase in shear capacity of the pre-damaged beams
strengthened with TRM was comparable to that of the non-
damaged strengthened beam. However, when the pre-damaged
degree was up to the shear failure, the increase in the shear ca­
pacity of the pre-damaged beam strengthened with TRM was
significantly lower than that of the non-damaged strengthened
beam.
(4) The internal stress of the beams was redistributed after shear
cracking. For the strengthened beams under sustained load, the
failure mechanism was different from that of the non-damaged
strengthened beams. The shear capacity and ultimate deflection
of the strengthened beams decreased as the sustaining load level
increased. In practical applications, to improve the structural
behaviors of damaged beams, the RC beams that require
strengthening should be unloaded as much as possible.
(5) A formula was proposed to predict the shear capacity of RC beams
strengthened with TRM. The influences of the shear damage de­
gree and sustaining load level could be considered. The model
proposed in this study was verified with the test results.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Liying Guo: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal
analysis, Software, Investigation, Resources, Writing – original draft,
Writing – review & editing, Project administration. Mingke Deng:
Conceptualization, Methodology, Resources, Supervision, Project
administration, Funding acquisition. Hui Chen: Validation, Project
administration. Ruizhe Li: Software, Project administration. Xiangkun
Ma: Validation, Project administration. Yangxi Zhang: Writing – re­
view & editing, Project administration, Funding acquisition.
10
Engineering Structures 256 (2022) 113956
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
The research work herein was founded by the National Natural Sci­
ence Foundation of China (Grant No. 51578445 and 52108173) and
Xi’an Science and Technology Innovation Bureau (Grant No.
20191522415KYPT015JC017), which is gratefully acknowledged.
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