ACI STRUCTURAL JOURNAL
Title No. 114-S88
Behavior of Reinforced Concrete T-Beams Strengthened
in Shear Using Closed Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer
Stirrups Made of Laminates and Ropes
by Simon Bourget, Georges El-Saikaly, and Omar Chaallal
Shear-strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) beams with externally
bonded (EB) carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) using
L-shaped laminates is gaining popularity and is successfully used
in practice. However, the technique may present some drawbacks
related to FRP debonding at the FRP/concrete interface and lack of
anchorage. This premature failure may inhibit the fiber-reinforced
polymer (FRP) to reach its full strength, thereby limiting the
cost-effectiveness of the strengthening material. This paper presents
the results of an experimental investigation on RC T-beams
shear-strengthened with new closed CFRP stirrup technology. The
closed stirrup is made of prefabricated CFRP L-shaped laminates
and a CFRP rope as a closure. The purpose of using such a technique
is to inhibit premature debonding by reproducing the advantage of
full-wrap strengthening configuration. This application method
provides a durable and cost-effective solution because it requires
less surface preparation and does not use mechanical anchors.
This can also be practical in seismic regions where transverse
reinforcement is required to be closed for confinement purposes.
Laboratory tests were performed on full-size RC T-beams with
three different ratios of internal transverse steel. The feasibility of
the full-wrap shear strengthening using the closed CFRP stirrup
technique and the influence of the internal steel stirrup ratio on the
performance of EB CFRP composites were investigated. The
results confirmed the effectiveness of using the closed CFRP stirrup
technique in increasing the shear resistance of strengthened RC
beams. The gain ranged between 20% and 140% for specimens
with and without internal transverse steel reinforcement, respectively.
The results also demonstrated the existence of an interaction
between internal steel stirrups and EB CFRP.
Keywords: anchorage; beam(s); carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP);
CFRP rope; closed CFRP stirrup; L-shaped laminate; reinforced concrete;
shear strengthening.
INTRODUCTION
The use of externally bonded carbon fiber-reinforced
polymer (EB CFRP) has attracted enormous interest, and
this material is being successfully used in field applica-
tions. In particular, strengthening in shear is recognized as
an effective technique for upgrading the capacity of existing
deficient reinforced concrete (RC) beams.
The behavior of RC beams strengthened in shear using
fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) is well-documented for
both experimental and design point of views. This includes
EB FRP sheets, FRP laminates, near-surface mounted
(NSM) FRP strips and rods, and embedded through-section
(ETS) FRP rod (Chaallal et al. 1998; Khalifa and Nanni
2000; De Lorenzis and Nanni 2001; Deniaud and Cheng
2001; Pellegrino and Modena 2002; Chen and Teng 2003;
Pellegrino and Modena 2006; Chaallal et al. 2011; Mofidi
ACI Structural Journal/September-October 2017
TECHNICAL PAPER
and Chaallal 2014). However, despite all these existing
strengthening techniques, premature failure by FRP
debonding due to lack of effective bond length and anchorage
is still a major concern. Such failure occurs prematurely and
inhibits the FRP to reach its full capacity, limiting thereby
the cost-effectiveness of the strengthening material. The
literature review reveals various anchorage systems to
prevent the failure mode by premature FRP debonding. A
state-of-the-art review encompassing several anchorage
devices for strengthening RC beams was summarized by
Kalfat et al. (2013). Mofidi et al. (2012) conducted an exper-
imental investigation on the performance of full-scale RC
T-girders strengthened in shear using U-jacketed EB CFRP
sheets end-anchored with different systems. Among the four
systems investigated, the CFRP laminate end-anchorage
embedded into the slab and the double-aluminium plate with
mechanical anchors resulted in the highest shear contribu-
tion, with 48% and 43% increase due to CFRP, respectively.
Deniaud (2000) studied the effect of extending the U-wrap
sheets under the flange; however, the anchored specimens
failed by FRP debonding. Similarly, Melo et al. (2003)
examined the performance of RC T-beams strengthened
with FRP U-wrap sheets using FRP plates as an anchorage
system, where the plates were surface-bonded longitudinally
underneath the flange at both ends of the U-wrap scheme;
however, the proposed anchorage system was not able to
prevent failure by debonding. In Eshwar et al. (2008), the
use of spike anchors was examined. The failure mode was
by sudden CFRP debonding from the concrete substrate;
nevertheless, a 25% and 133% increase in ultimate capacity
was obtained for specimens anchored with one and two
spikes, respectively. The authors concluded that perfor-
mance of EB CFRP can be improved significantly when
sufficient anchorage is provided.
Prefabricated CFRP L-shaped laminates have been
developed in recent years as a new shear-strengthening
technique that presents a potential alternative to conven-
tional strengthening systems, such as the use of EB CFRP
sheets. Several tests have been performed to evaluate the
efficiency of shear strengthening using L-shaped laminates
(Czaderski and Motavalli 2002; Chen and Robertson 2004;
Mofidi et al. 2014). The results revealed that the use of such
ACI Structural Journal, V. 114, No. 5, September-October 2017.
MS No. S-2015-344.R2, doi: 10.14359/51700786, received February 10, 2017, and
reviewed under Institute publication policies. Copyright © 2017, American Concrete
Institute. All rights reserved, including the making of copies unless permission is
obtained from the copyright proprietors. Pertinent discussion including author’s
closure, if any, will be published ten months from this journal’s date if the discussion
is received within four months of the paper’s print publication.
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