Special Edition of Engineering and Development Journal, Vol.

12 ISSN 1813-7822

Experimental Design of External Steel Plates and Study of

Concrete Strength and Reinforcement Ratio Effects on
Strengthening R. C. Beams

Prof. Ghazi F. Kheder Asst. Prof. Dr. Jasim M. Al-Khafaji

Civil Engineering Department, College of Civil Engineering Department, College of
Engineering, Al-Mustansiriya University Engineering, Al-Mustansiriya University

Asst. Lec. Awadh E. Ajeel

Highway and Transportation Department, College of
Engineering, Al-Mustansiriya University
Abstract

An experimental study is implemented in this paper to select suitable dimensions for

the external steel plates to be used in strengthening severely damaged concrete beams by
bonding technique, study the effect of original section design on repairing efficiency and
investigate the external steel plates behavior in the repaired beams.
A preliminary test was conducted on four identical beams with normal concrete
sections tested up to failure, and divided into two groups. The first two beams were
provided with external plates with different thickness and constant length to select the
sufficient thickness and equivalent area of the external steel plate that can substitute the
deficiency in the tension steel bars strength due to yielding. The second two beams were
provided with constant thickness of external plates and variable length to determine the
required length for the external steel plate that guarantees adequate bonding and
composite action between the concrete beam and the strengthening plate.
Three groups with different reinforcement ratios and concrete sections, normal
section of nominal compressive strength of 20MPa (one beam), high strength section of
nominal compressive strength of 70MPa (three beams) and hybrid section of nominal
compressive strength of 70MPa at the upper third of the section and 20MPa at the lower
two thirds (two beams), tested up to failure. In the repairing process, the strengthening
plates were designed depending on the results of the preliminary test to investigate the
repairing efficiency due to the effects of the concrete compressive strengths and the
reinforcement ratios, and the behavior of the external steel plates.

‫الخالصـــة‬

‫قيية ااالألع‬ ‫يقدم هذا البحث دراسةةةةةةة الختية األيعر االمعد الخلصخة لتاةةةةةةةعصل الةي ية الخعرةية الخوةةةةةةألخد ة‬
‫الخرسةةعةية الخألرةةررد لبةةدد لعالألخعد اسةةتي التاةةح التخ ااسةةلل الخعرةية لةالألع ي دراسةةة ير الألاةةخيا اشةبةةعص‬
.‫لتخقلع ااصت التخ كةعءد الختية اشصلحي كذلك اسألقاعء ستيك الاةعصل الةي ية ااالألع الخقياد‬

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‫ا القيعم لعاألبعر ا ل التخ ارلمة االألع ارسعةية ألخع تة ات قعطع ارسعةية االأليعدية الخقع ةي الأل ةرى حاهع‬
‫ الخعخيالة اا لخ الخميةة ن الألبين ا ن يدهخع لاةةةةةةيحألين‬.‫لحين اليصةةةةةي للخ الةبةةةةة ي ا جوةةةةةخ للخ عخيالألين‬
‫الذ يمل وةةةةةةع ة مع ة ن‬ ‫ي يألين اعرةيألين ا طي عل سةةةةةةخك خألت لترا ااأليعر الوةةةةةةخك المع‬
‫ ا ع المألبعا‬.‫قع ة جرةةبعا البةةد الةي ية لوةةبو الخرةةيل‬ ‫الاةةةيحة الةي ية الخعرةية جعدرد التخ مييا الصقف‬
‫اآلاراا ألا ن يدهخع لاةةةةةةةيحألين ي يألين اعرةيألين ا سةةةةةةخك عل لمن للي ألتير لألحديد اللي الخلتي‬
.‫الةم الخركو لين المألو الخرسعة الاةيحة الخقياد‬ ‫لتاةيحة الذ يرخن الرلط المع‬
‫ات قعطع ارسةةةةعةية خألتةة الخقع عت ةوةةةةو‬ ‫العنء الرصيوةةةة ن المخ ا حف لث عخيالعت ن ااالألع‬
‫قلع االأليعد لخقع ة اةرةةةةةةتعط اسةةةةةةخية جيخألهع‬ ‫الألوةةةةةةتيل لحين الةبةةةةةة ي الخعخيالة اا لخ ؤلةة ن الألو ا د‬
‫ ا ع الخعخيالة‬70MPa ‫ي الخعخيالة الثعةية ؤلةة ن ل ة االألع لخقلع العل الخقع ة للةرةةةةتعط جيخألهع‬20MPa
20MPa ‫ الثتث المتي ن الخقلع‬70MPa ‫قع ة لةرةةةةتعط قدارهع‬ ‫الثعلثة خؤلةة ن الألبين لخقلع هعن‬
‫الختية اشصةةةةلح الأل اةري لةالألع الخألرةةةةررد ا اةةةةخيا صةةةةةعصل الألقيية الةي ية لهذ‬ .‫الثتثين الوةةةةةتيين‬
‫يرات‬ ‫ااالألع لع الألخعد التخ الصألعصج الأل ا رزهع الةحف اا ل ؛ التعية ن لك اسةةةةةةألقاةةةةةةعء كةعءد اشصةةةةةةلح ح‬
.‫قع عت ا ةرتعط لتخرسعةة ةوو الألوتيل الخخألتةة ستيك الاةعصل الةي ية الخعرةية‬

1. Introduction

In case of testing reinforced concrete beams up to failure (as in the present work), the
yielding of internal tension steel leads to: excessive deflections and large crack widths followed
by crushing of concrete in the compression zone. The repair of the damaged beams can be
achieved by: restoring the original shape by applying a reverse load on the damaged beams to
straighten them, injecting epoxy resin into the cracks to restore the structural integrity of beams,
replacing the crushed concrete by new one with similar or better properties using repair mortar
or concrete with bonding additives, and then external steel plates can be glued to strengthen the
beams. However, the residual strains in the yielded tension steel bars are unknown and the
additional strength that can be provided by injecting epoxy into the cracks cannot be measured;
thereby there is a problem in design of external steel plates dimensions required for
strengthening the repaired beams and no such design guideline is available in codes of practice.
Some researchers adopted expressions to attain a desirable or rational design for
externally bonded plates; these expressions can be arranged as follows:
The width of plate and therefore interface layer is limited by the size of concrete section and
is recommended to be at most 20mm less than the concrete beam width (1), so that:
𝑏𝑝𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝑏𝑔 = 𝑏𝑐 − 20 ..… (1)
The thickness of the plate must be equal to / or less than the plate thickness at balance load
conditions and the maximum plate thickness to ensure a ductile flexural failure (1).
𝑡𝑝𝑚𝑎𝑥 ≤ 𝑡𝑝𝑏 = [𝛽1 𝑐𝑏 (0.85𝑓 ′𝑐 )𝑏𝑐 − 𝐴𝑠 𝑓𝑦 ]/𝑏𝑝 𝑓𝑦𝑝 ….. (2)
Two tentative design criteria are suggested to ensure the full flexural capacity of the beam
and ductility at failure (2):
𝑏𝑝 /𝑡𝑝 ≥ 50 ….. (3)
𝑐/𝑑 ≤ 0.4 ….. (4)

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For two–point loading with total load of magnitude P, the expression for the maximum cut
off length of plate must satisfy (1):
𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑥 /ℎ𝑐 ≤ 3 ….. (5)
For the case of a simple span with a central point load of (Pu), the maximum cut off length
must satisfy the following limit (3):
𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑥 ≤ 2𝑀𝑖𝑢 /𝑃𝑢 ….. (6)
For beams subjected to uniformly distributed load or point load, the ideal length of external
steel plate can be about 65% of the span length, in order to make the interaction efficiency is
high enough, and above which interaction efficiency will undergo low changes (3, 4).

2. Objective

The present experimental work has two aims: the first is to select suitable dimensions for
the external steel plate to be used in repairing severely damaged reinforced concrete beams after
injecting them by epoxy resin and the second is to investigate the repairing efficiency due to
the effects of the concrete compressive strengths and the reinforcement ratios, and the behavior
of the external steel plates in the repaired beams.

3. Experimental Work

The work of this study was divided into two stages; preliminary test and main test.
The preliminary test was implemented by four identical reinforced concrete beams with
normal strength concrete. After repairing, these beams were subdivided into two groups of two
specimens in each one and strengthened by different configuration steel plates to achieve the
first aim of the study. The first group was strengthened by external steel plates with different
thickness and constant length to select the sufficient thickness and equivalent area of external
steel plate that can substitute the deficiency in the tension steel bars strength due to yielding.
The second group was provided with constant thickness of external steel plates, but with
variable curtailment from the supports to determine the required length of the plate that
guarantees adequate bonding and composite action between concrete beam and external steel
plate.
The main test was implemented by six reinforced concrete beams belong to three
groups of different strengths concrete: normal strength group consists of one beam, high
strength group consists of three beams and hybrid section group consists of two beams
(containing high strength concrete in the top third and normal strength concrete in the rest of
the cross section). After repairing, the strengthening steel plates for these beams were
designed depending on the results of the preliminary test to achieve the second aim of the
study.

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4. Materials Properties

4.1. Concrete

Ordinary Portland cement type I was used. The coarse aggregate was a 12.5mm maximum
size crushed gravel and the fine aggregate was natural river sand with a 2.72 fineness modulus.
For high strength concrete HSC production, the water content of the mix is reduced by using a
superplasticizer (SP) complies with ASTM C 469–86 (5)
Cylinders and prisms for control tests were cast and stored with each beam and then tested
when the beam was tested. The mix proportions and the average results of cylinder strength f'c,
modulus of rupture fr and elastic modulus Ec for all beams are given in Table 1:

Table 1: Mix proportions and mechanical properties of concrete

Mix Proportions Mechanical Properties
Stage Group kg/m3 MPa
Cement Sand Gravel Water SP f'c fr †fr Ec ‡Ec
Preliminary Test NSC 560 635 1085 224 – 34.4 4.6 4.1 28300 27566
NSC 345 700 1125 220 – 22.3 3.6 3.3 24200 22195
Main Test
HSC 560 635 1085 150 8.4 71.7 8.1 5.9 40500 39798
†fr = 0.7√𝐟′𝐜, ‡Ec= 4700 √𝐟′𝐜

4.2. Steel Bar Reinforcement

Deformed steel bars of diameter 10, 16 and 25mmwere used for the main reinforcement
and plain steel bars of diameter 6mm were used for compression reinforcement and stirrups.
Properties of the steel bars are shown in Table 2.

4.3. Steel Plate Reinforcement

Steel plates with different thicknesses of 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0mm were used as external
reinforcement to repair the damaged beams by bonding to the concrete surfaces by epoxy resin.
Properties of the plates are shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Properties of steel reinforcement

Yield Ultimate Modulus of
Diameter Thickness
Reinforcement Stress (fy) Stress (fu) Elasticity (Es)
of Bar (Ø)mm of Plate (tp)mm
MPa MPa GPa
6 – 383 545 200
10 – 484 719 200
Steel Bars
16 – 518 635 200
25 – 448 709 200
– 1.0 280 347 200
Steel Plates – 1.5 265 330 200
– 2.0 263 311 200

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4.4. Epoxy

Epoxy was used for three functions for completion the repairing process. These were:
1.Sealing the surface cracks and fixing of injection nipples in preparation for crack injection.
2.Cracks injection in damaged beams to restore their integrity.
3.Bonding fresh, wet cementitious material and steel to old and existing cementitious surface.
Tests on hardened specimens of epoxy were carried out at room temperature and the
following average values were obtained:
Compressive strength > 50MPa.
Tensile strength > 20MPa.
Flexural strength > 30MPa.
Bond strength > the tensile strength of concrete.

5. Details of Beams

The spacing of stirrups and the limitations of reinforcement were adopted according
to ACI Code 318–05 (6).
The preliminary beams dimensions were70x150x1500mm and the main reinforcement
was 2Ø10mmtension bars ρ=1.87%, 2Ø6mm compression bars and closed stirrups made by
Ø6mmbras at 60mm c/c. These beams were tested up to failure and then repaired and provided
with external steel plates. The details of the original and repaired beams are shown in Table
3 and Figure 1. The strengthening plates were bonded to the beams by epoxy (glue) of
dimensions tgxbg were constant 1.0x50mm and length Lg was equal to the plate length Lp.
The main beams dimensions were175x275x3000mm with 2Ø6mm compression bars.
The diameter and number of tension steel bars and spacing between closed stirrups made by
Ø6mm bras were various. Also, these beams were tested up to failure and subjected to
repairing process. The details and the limitations of the reinforcement are shown in Table 4
and Figure2. The dimensions of glue were constant 1.0x150mm and its length was equal to
the steel plate length.

Table 3: Details of the preliminary beams

Dimensions
Beam Symbol Curtailment
of Plate (Ap/As)
(tpxbp) % Lp1 (Lp1/L) Lp2 (Lp2/L)
Group Original Repaired mm mm % mm %
B1 R1.0B1 1.0x50 31.8 250 0.357 250 0.357
First
B2 R1.5B2 1.5x50 47.8 250 0.357 250 0.357
B3 R1.0B3 1.0x50 31.8 420 0.600 490 0.700
Second
B4 R1.0B4 1.0x50 31.8 560 0.800 630 0.900

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Table 4: Details of the main beams

Beam Symbol Reinf. Stirrups Dimensions
Tension
Ratio Spacing After of Plate (Ap/As) (Lp/L)
Bars
(ρ) (c/c) Repair (tpxbpxLp) % %
Group Original mm
% mm mm
NSC BN1 2Ø16 0.95 120 R1.0BN1 1.0x150x2000 37.31 71.13
BH1 2Ø16 0.95 120 R1.0BH1 1.0x150x2000 37.31 71.13
HSC BH2 3Ø16 1.43 70 R1.5BH2 1.5x150x2000 37.31 71.13
BH3 2Ø25 2.37 40 R2.0BH3 2.0x150x2400 30.05 85.71
BHy1 2Ø16 0.95 120 R1.0BHy1 1.0x150x2000 37.31 71.13
HySC
BHy2 3Ø16 1.43 70 R1.5BHy2 1.5x150x2000 37.31 71.13

(a): Reference beam

(b): Repaired beams of the first group

(c): Repaired beams of the second group

Figure 1: Details of the preliminary beams

BN1BH1, BH2 BHy1, BHy2 BH3

(a): Reference beams

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R1.0BN1, R1.0BH1, R1.0BHy1 R1.5BH2, R1.5BHy2 R 2.0BH3

(b): Repaired beams

Figure 2: Details of the main beams

6. Description of the Test

6.1. Specimen Preparation

Before testing, a thin layer of white emulsion paint was applied onto the surface of the
specimen to aid the cracks detection. The demec discs were glued on the beam side surface
by an adhesive material (epoxy). The dial gage was positioned at the bottom of midspan of
beam.

6.2. Test Procedure for the Original Beams

All the beams were tested simply supported in third point loading as shown in Figures
1 and 2. The beams were instrumented to measure deflections and concrete strains at the
midspan. The deflections were measured by dial gages, and strains by extensometer.
Loading was applied in increments of 4kN to record the deflection and crack width.
After each 20kN, the load was kept constant until the required readings of concrete strains
were recorded. Concrete cracks were detected using a magnifying glass and drawn on the face
of the tested beam and their widths measured. Testing was continued until the beam showed
a drop in load carrying capacity with increasing deflection. Beams were severely damaged due
to excessive loading in the tests, as shown in Figure 3.

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(a): Excessive cracking after test

(b): Excessive deflection after test

Figure 3: Excessive deformation of the original beams

6.3. Repairing Works on the Damaged Beams

Repairing works on the damaged beams were represented by the following steps:
The first step was to restore the original shape of the specimen. This was done by applying
a reverse load from testing machine to the damaged beam tension face at a rate of 1kN until it
becomes straight again, or nearly so. Further cracks occurred in the compression zone.
Crushed concrete in tension and compression zone was chipped. Then, it was replaced by
new one with the same properties of the old concrete. Interface between old and new concrete
was covered by a thin layer of epoxy to ensure a good bond under loading.
The cracks were sealed by epoxy so as nipples were fixed in their positions in this type of
sealant. After one day, cracks were filled by injecting epoxy through the nipples, and the next
day sealing was removed.
The position of steel plate on the repaired beam surface was drawn using cement mortar,
after which the glue was poured in that position and left for 45min to start hardening, and then
the steel plate was glued at its position.
Specimen preparations were repeated before retesting. Furthermore, electrical strain gages
were positioned at the middle and two ends of the steel plate to record its strains, as well as
dial gages at the two ends of the plate to calculate the end slip of the glued plate.

6.4. Test Procedure on the Repaired Beams

All the repaired beams were retested in third point loading with 4kN increments in
load as that of the original beams. The deflections, crack widths and end slips of the glued
plates were measured at each load increment and after each 20kN; the load was kept constant
to record the concrete and steel plate strains. Testing was continued up to failure.

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7. Results of the Preliminary Test

The strength of the tested beams is expressed as the experimental ultimate load the
beam can withstand. The repairing efficiency is defined as the ratio of the repaired beam
strength to its original strength (as a percentage).

7.1. Result of the First Group

The plate width bp was kept 50mm, while the thickness tp was the variable that controls
the ratio of external steel plate to internal steel reinforcement to investigate the best between
the Ap/As of 31.8% and 47.8% with respect to structural and economic considerations.
The two beams exhibited cracks at 4kN and the maximum crack width was 0.7mm at
failure, and they failed by the same manner, a brittle failure represented by debonding of the
external steel plate under the position of point load. The beam R1.0B1 recorded an increase
of 7.5% in strength and restored its original stiffness, while the beam R1.5B2 recorded a
decrease of 7.5% in its original strength, despite restoring its original stiffness, as shown in
Table 5 and Figure4.This confirms that the concentration stresses at the plate ends increase
as the plate thickness increases (7) and makes the failure mode prone to plate separation (8).
From these results, it can be concluded that A p/As = 31.8% is the best option for repairing
beams in these conditions.

Table 5: Strength characteristics of preliminary tested beams

𝐏𝐮,𝐫
Beam Pcr Pu (Ap/As) (Lp1/L) (Lp2/L)
𝐏𝐮,𝐨 Mode of Failure
Symbol kN kN % % %
%
B1 4.0 40.0 - - - Yielding of tension steel bars
107.5
R1.0B1 4.0 43.0 31.8 0.357 0.357 Separation of external steel plate
B2 2.0 40.0 - - - Yielding of tension steel bars
92.5
R1.5B2 4.0 37.0 47.8 0.357 0.357 Separation of external steel plate
B3 4.0 40.0 - - - Yielding of tension steel bars
127.5
R1.0B3 4.0 51.0 31.8 0.6 0.7 Ripping off concrete cover
B4 4.0 42.0 - - - Yielding of tension steel bars
178.6
R1.0B4 4.0 75.0 31.8 0.8 0.9 Yielding of external steel plate

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80 80

70 70

60 60

50 50
Load (kN)

Load (kN)
40 40

30 30

20 20
Preliminary Preliminary
Test Test
10 10
B1 B2
R1.0B1 R1.5B2

0 0

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Midspan Deflection (mm) Midspan Deflection (mm)

Figure 4: Load–Deflection curves for the first group of preliminary beams

7.2. Result of the Second Group

In this group, the plate thickness was constant at1.0mm to keep AP/AS = 31.8%
depending on the results of the first group, but the plate curtailments from the supports were
different to check the minimum suitable plate length Lp.

7.2.1 Strength and Efficiency

The beam R1.0B4 recorded strength and efficiency higher than R1.0B3; the repairing
efficiencies were 127.5% and 178.6%, as in Table 5. The two beams exhibited cracks at 4kN
as the first group. These indicated the marginal effect of the plate length on the appearance of
the first crack and confirmed the results of Swamy et al (2). The distinct effect of plate length
on strength was evident in the second beam R1.0B4, where the longer plate was glued, and the
repairing efficiency increased significantly.

7.2.2 Deflection

The values of deflection are listed in Table 6 near the ultimate load of the original beams
40kN and the load–deflection curves are plotted in Figure 5 in order to comparison between the
deformation of the strengthened beams and their original specimens.
The beam R1.0B4 exhibited deflection 5.69mm which was approximately equal to that
of R1.0B3 5.80mm, but R1.0B4 achieved ductility higher than its original specimen while
R1.0B3 did not. That explained the increase in the composite action in R1.0B4 due increasing
the plate length, so its ductility 2.39was almost doubled in comparison with 1.29 of R1.0B3.

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Table 6: Deformation of the second group of preliminary beams

∆𝐮 Crack width Crack Spacing Crack Height
Beam Δ40 Δy Δu
Ductility w40 s40 h40
Symbol mm mm mm ∆𝐲
mm mm mm
B3 12.30 9.42 12.30 1.30 0.60 45 110
R1.0B3 5.80 7.30 9.41 1.29 0.25 45 88
B4 9.66 7.22 11.38 1.58 0.55 45 113
R1.0B4 5.69 8.05 19.21 2.39 0.10 50 67

80 80

70 70

60 60

50 50
Load (kN)

40 Load (kN) 40

30 30

20 20
Preliminary Preliminary
Test Test
10 10
B3 B4
R1.0B3 R1.0B4

0 0

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Midspan Deflection (mm) Midspan Deflection (mm)

Figure 5: Load–Deflection curves for the second group of preliminary beams

7.2.3 Cracking

Table 6 listed crack width w, spacing s and height h at 40kN. Crack patterns for the
repaired preliminary beams after failure are shown in Figure6.
The beam R1.0B4 exhibited significant reductions in crack width and height to be
0.1mmand 67mm, while they were0.25mm and 88mm in R1.0B3 respectively. However, in the
two beams significant improvements above the original beams were gained. It is obvious that
the crack heights were evidently reduced, especially in R1.0B4 which reduced from 113mm to
67mm.This clearly shows the role of the steel plate length in reducing the crack width and
height and improving the serviceability of the structure. Moreover, the load carrying capacity
will improve due to diminishing of the crack heights and thereby the N.A depth and this will
reduce the stresses in the section.
On the other hand, R1.0B4 recorded a slight increase in the crack spacing more than
R1.0B3 which means inconsiderable decrease in the cracks numbers, and when comparing
among the original and repaired beams, the improvement in this property is negligible.

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Figure 6: Crack pattern of preliminary beams

7.2.4 Steel Plate Strains

The values of the plate strains at the center of the beam εp,m and the ends of the steel
plate εp,e were listed in Table 7, and the variation of the ends plate strains with the load was
plotted in Figure7.

Table 7: Steel plate strain and end-slip for the second group of
preliminary beams
Beam εp,m εp,e End-Slip
(Lp/L)
Symbol x10-5 x10-5 mm
0.6 0.8 0.758
R1.0B3 122.0
0.7 0.7 0.576
0.8 0.6 0.424
R1.0B4 93.4
0.9 0.4 0.031

The strains values at the plate’s ends were very small to be negligible when the value
of plate length increased, as well as the decrease in the plate strain at the center of the beam.
Therefore, the strains at the steel plate of R1.0B4 were less than that of R1.0B3. This led to
the conclusion that increasing the plate length does not only reduce the stress concentration
at the plate end, but also it improves the behavior of the beam by extending the composite
action zone between the concrete and external plate and reduces the strain profile at the
midspan.

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0.000010 1.20
Preliminary Preliminary
Test Test
At 20 kN At 10 kN
1.00
0.000008 At 40 kN At 20 kN
At 30 kN
At 40 kN
Steel Plate End Strain (mm/mm)

0.80 At 50 kN

0.000006

End-Slip (mm)
0.60

0.000004

0.40

0.000002
0.20

0.000000 0.00

0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00

LP/L LP/L

Figure7: Load–Variation of strain and end–slip at different curtailments

of steel plate

7.2.5 Steel Plate End–Slip

The end–slip values were listed in Table 7; the load–slip curve and the variation of the
end–slip with the load were plotted in Figure 7.
The obvious trend was that the end–slip decreased with the increase of plate length, by
this way the end–slip will be minimum as plate end closes to support. The ductility of
R1.0B3was 1.29 and approximately equal to that of its original specimen and failed prematurely
by ripping off concrete cover at the far end of the plate from the support Lp/L= 0.6 which
suffered from the highest end–slip. The beam R1.0B4 failed in flexure mode achieved by
yielding of the external plate and exhibited ductility of 2.39 which was greater than that of its
original specimen 1.58. The two ends of the steel plate remained safe against debonding and
shearing.

7.3 Concluding Remarks

Based on evidence from the preliminary experiments conducted on four beams, the
results led to the following conclusions:
The use of external steel plate area converging to the ratio 1/3 of the internal tension steel
area is sufficient to restore the original stiffness and capacity of damaged beams.
The increase of external steel plate thickness increases the concentration of stresses at
the plate ends and makes the premature failure more eventual.
With external steel plate length, at least 0.6 times the beam clear span, the restoration of
the original properties is possible, but it is still critical due to the danger of premature
failure.

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With external steel plate length above 0.8 times the beam clear span, considerable
improvement in the original properties can be gained after repairing.
When the repaired structure is safe against premature failure, the plate bonding technique
is capable of strengthening the structure and developing its properties to be in better case.

8. Results of the Main Test

8.1 Strength and Efficiency

The results of repairing efficiency at cracking load Pcr and ultimate load Pu and
mode of failure of the repaired beams are all listed in Table 8.
The strength efficiencies of R1.0BN1, R1.0BH1 and R1.0BHy1 were 118.4%,
136.7% and 125.4% respectively, to clear that the highest repairing strength was achieved
with HSC beam and followed by HySC and that’s to say: increase the repairing strength can
be gained by increasing the section strength. When ρ increased in R1.0BH1, R1.5BH2 and
R2.0BH3, the efficiency decreased as 136.7%, 128.6% and 116.8% respectively, a similar
behavior was observed for R1.0BHy1 and R1.5BHy2 with efficiencies 125.4% and 118.3%
respectively that reflected the passive effect of increasing ρ on decreasing the repairing
strength efficiency.

Table 8: Strength characteristics of tested beams

𝐏𝐜,𝐫 𝐏𝐮,𝐫
Beam (Ap/As) (Lp/L) Pcr Pu
𝐏𝐜,𝐨 𝐏𝐮,𝐨 Mode of Failure
Symbol % % kN kN
% %
BN1 - - 19.0 114.0 Yielding of tension steel bars
147.4 118.4
R1.0BN1 37.31 71.13 28.0 135.0 Shear cracks at plate end
BH1 - - 38.0 120.0 Yielding of tension steel bars
126.3 136.7
R1.0BH1 37.31 71.13 48.0 164.0 Yielding of external steel plate
BH2 - - 41.0 199.0 Yielding of tension steel bars
122.0 128.6
R1.5BH2 37.31 71.13 50.0 256.0 Yielding of external steel plate
BH3 - - 43.0 286.0 Yielding of tension steel bars
132.6 116.8
R2.0BH3 30.05 85.71 57.0 334.0 Ripping off concrete cover
BHy1 - - 23.0 118.0 Yielding of tension steel bars
126.1 125.4
R1.0BHy1 37.31 71.13 29.0 148.0 Ripping off concrete cover
BHy2 - - 24.0 175.0 Yielding of tension steel bars
170.8 118.3
R1.5BHy2 37.31 71.13 41.0 207.0 Yielding of external steel plate

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8.2 Deflection

Midspan deflection results at ultimate load P u of original beams were compared with
those of the repaired beams, as shown in Table 9 and plotted versus the load in Figure 8.

Table 9: Deformation results of tested beams

∆𝐮,𝐫 𝛆𝐮,𝐫 𝐰𝐮,𝐫
Beam Pu,o Δu εu wu
∆𝐮,𝐨 𝛆𝐮,𝐨 𝐰𝐮,𝐨
Symbol kN mm x10-5 mm
% % %
BN1 26.1 170.7 1.44
114.0 54.0 91.3 14.6
R1.0BN1 14.1 155.9 0.21
BH1 22.9 280.0 1.25
120.0 55.9 29.9 7.2
R1.0BH1 12.8 83.6 0.09
BH2 45.3 280.0 1.05
199.0 43.9 42.9 61.9
R1.5BH2 19.9 120.0 0.65
BH3 47.0 360.0 0.61
286.0 37.2 55.6 103.3
R2.0BH3 17.5 200.0 0.83
BHy1 22.7 244.0 1.10
118.0 58.6 44.5 40.0
R1.0BHy1 13.3 108.7 0.44
BHy2 36.0 260.0 0.72
175.0 50.8 71.0 29.2
R1.5BHy2 18.3 184.5 0.21

The repaired beams deflections to the original ones were 54.0%, 55.9% and 58.6%
for R1.0TBN1, R1.0BH1 and R1.0BHy1respectively. This means that the best reduction in
deflection was achieved by normal concrete beam and followed by high strength concrete
beam, this results confirmed by 43.9% and 50.8% repaired ratios of R1.5BH2 and
R1.5BHy2 respectively. On the other hand, the ratio of repaired to original deflections
decreased when ρ increased. This was observed from the BH group when the ratios of
deflections descended as 55.9, 43.9 and 37.2 through R1.0BH1, R1.5TBH2 and R2.0BH3
respectively. The repaired beams of BHy group behaved similarly to the BH group .

8.3 Concrete Strains

The top fiber concrete strains at ultimate load P u of original and repaired beams were
shown in Table 9 and plotted in Figure 9.
The maximum recorded top fiber strains of BN1, BH1 and BHy1 were 0.00171,
0.0028 and 0.00244 and reduced to 0.00155, 0.00084 and 0.00109 in the repaired specimens
respectively. Also the maximum recorded top fiber strains of the beams BH2 and BHy2 were
0.0028 and 0.0026 reduced to 0.0012 and 0.0184 in the repaired specimens respectively. The
recorded data indicated that the best control on strains can be gained by BH and then by BHy
and at last by BN beams. The observation of BH and BHy groups revealed that as ρ increased
the repaired strains values will be approximately equal to the original strains and the
efficiency decreased in spite of increasing in the plate thickness.

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160 200

160
120

120

Load (kN)
Load (kN)

80

80

40
40
NSC HSC
BN1 BH1
R1.0BN1 R1.0BH1

0 0

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Midspan Deflection (mm) Midspan Deflection (mm)
240 360

320
200
280

160 240

200
Load (kN)

Load (kN)

120
160

80 120

80
40 HSC HSC
BH2 40 BH3
R1.5BH2 R2.0BH3

0 0

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Midspan Deflection (mm) Midspan Deflection (mm)
160 240

200

120

160
Load (kN)

Load (kN)

80 120

80

40

HyS 40 HyS
BHy1 BHy2
R1.0TBHy1 R1.5BHy2

0 0

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Midspan Deflection (mm) Midspan Deflection (mm)

Figure 8: Load–Deflection curves

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-0.005 -0.004 -0.003 -0.002 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 -0.005 -0.004 -0.003 -0.002 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005

0 0
BN1 R1.0BN1
-25 -25
Pcr,o. Pcr,o.
Ps,o. Ps,o.
-50 -50
Pu,o. Pu,o.

-75 -75

-100 -100
Compression Tension
Depth (mm)

Depth (mm)
Compression Tension
-125 -125

-150 -150

-175 -175

-200 -200

-225 -225

-250 -250

-275 -275

-0.005 -0.004 -0.003 -0.002 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 -0.005 -0.004 -0.003 -0.002 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005
Concrete Strain (mm/mm) Concrete Strain (mm/mm)

-0.005 -0.004 -0.003 -0.002 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 -0.005 -0.004 -0.003 -0.002 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005

0 0
BH1 R1.0BH1
-25 -25
Pcr,o. Pcr,o.
Ps,o. Ps,o.
-50 -50
Pu,o. Pu,o.

-75 -75

-100 -100
Compression Tension
Compression Tension
Depth (mm)

Depth (mm)

-125 -125

-150 -150

-175 -175

-200 -200

-225 -225

-250 -250

-275 -275

-0.005 -0.004 -0.003 -0.002 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 -0.005 -0.004 -0.003 -0.002 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005
Concrete Strain (mm/mm) Concrete Strain (mm/mm)

-0.005 -0.004 -0.003 -0.002 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 -0.005 -0.004 -0.003 -0.002 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005

0 0
BHy1 R1.0BHy1
-25 -25
Pcr,o. Pcr,o.
Ps,o. Ps,o.
-50 -50
Pu,o. Pu,o.

-75 -75

-100 -100
Compression Tension
Depth (mm)

Depth (mm)

-125 Compression Tention -125

-150 -150

-175 -175

-200 -200

-225 -225

-250 -250

-275 -275

-0.005 -0.004 -0.003 -0.002 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 -0.005 -0.004 -0.003 -0.002 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005
Concrete Strain (mm/mm) Concrete Strain (mm/mm)

Figure 9: Concrete strains profiles

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8.4 Cracking

Typical curves of load–maximum crack widths are shown in Figure 10, and the values
of maximum crack widths at the original beams ultimate load Pu are listed in Table 9.
Because of the restraining effect of the strengthening plates, there was no ratio of
repaired to original cracking load less than 120.0% and there was a significant reduction in the
crack widths to record best ratio of repaired to original maximum crack width of7.2% in
R1.0BH1. The ratio of flexural cracking load of repaired beams to the ultimate load of the
original beam was 24.6% for R1.0BN1and between 19.9%–40.0% for BH group and
approximately 24.0% for BHy group due to the provided external steel plates.
The repaired BH beams exhibited the best reductions in the crack widths, but those
reductions were lost with the increase of plate thickness because of the propagation of shear
cracks at the ends of the steel plate and these cracks were developed rapidly with loading.
The cracking pattern in the repaired beams was similar to that in the original beams, but
shear cracks were initiated at the plates ends at the latest loading stages. In some beams such as
R2.0BH3, the shear cracks at the plate’s ends extended with slight inclination then became
horizontal and continued below the tension steel bars level causing the tearing of (ripping–off)
concrete cover which became the failure mode of this beam.

160 200 240

200
160
120

160

120
Load (kN)

Load (kN)

Load (kN)

80 120

80

80

40
40
NSC HSC 40 HSC
BN1 BH1 BH2
R1.0BN1 R1.0BH1 R1.5BH2

0 0 0

0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.80 2.00 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.80 2.00 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.80 2.00
Crack Width (mm) Crack Width (mm) Crack Width (mm)

320 160 240

280
200

120
240
160

200
Load (kN)

Load (kN)

Load (kN)

80 120

160

80
120
40

HSC HyS 40 HyS

80
BH3 BHy1 BHy2

R2.0BH3 R1.0BHy1 R1.5BHy2

40 0 0

0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.80 2.00 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.80 2.00 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.80 2.00
Crack Width (mm) Crack Width (mm) Crack Width (mm)

Figure 10: Load–Crack width curves

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8.5 Failure Modes

Two failure modes were noted on the repaired beams: (1) a premature failure
represented by shear mode failure and (2) a conventional failure represented by the flexural
mode failure, as listed in Table 8.
The shear mode failure took place either by diagonal cracks initiated at the plate ends
and extending with 45o to the beam axis as in case of R1.0BN1 shown in Figure 11(a). Or by
shallow diagonal cracks initiated at the plate ends and extended horizontally below the steel
bars level to make the beam fail by ripping–off concrete cover as in case of R1.0BHy1 shown
in Figure 11(b). The flexure mode failure was achieved by combined yielding of tension
steel bars and external steel plate followed by crushing of concrete in the compression zone,
Figure 11(c). The ductility index associated with these failure modes was in the range 1.0–
1.4, as in Table 10.

(a): Shear mode failure (diagonal cracks)

(b): Shear mode failure (ripping–off concrete cover)

(c): flexure mode failure

Figure 11: Failure modes

Table 10: Ductility, steel plate strain and end-slip of repaired beams
Beam Δy Δu εp,m End-Slip
Δu/ Δy –5
Symbol mm mm x10 mm
R1.0BN1 18.2 20.5 1.1 228.8 1.67
R1.0BH1 19.2 26.7 1.4 246.0 0.72
R1.5BH2 20.9 25.0 1.2 254.0 2.31
R2.0BH3 20.2 28.9 1.4 208.5 0.86
R1.0BHy1 18.2 18.2 1.0 220.0 1.37
R1.5BHy2 20.9 26.3 1.3 252.0 1.94

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8.6 Steel Plate Strains

Figure 12 shows the plate strains under load at three sections, two at the ends and the
third at the center of the repaired beam.
The strains in the plate increased almost linearly according to elastic theory until
yielding, after that the slope of the curve decreased. The measured strains at center of plate,
where cross section behaved fully composite during the last stage of loading (before failure)
were listed in Table 10. Strains at the plate ends were observed to oscillate near zero. The
beam did not behave with full composite action at this region. The behavior was similar in
the six beams and all the plates exhibited strains greater than 0.002 at ultimate loads and
yielded independently on thickness, length, and type of section or mode of failure.

-0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003

120 160 220

200
140
100 180

120
160
80
100 140
Load (kN)

Load (kN)

Load (kN)
120
60 80
100

60 80
40
60
40
R1.0BN1 R1.0BH1 R1.5BH2
20 40
center center center
20
end1 end1 end1
20
end2 end2 end2

0 0 0

-0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003
Steel Plate Strain (mm/mm) Steel Plate Strain (mm/mm) Steel Plate Strain (mm/mm)

-0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003

320 140 200

280
120
160
240
100

200
120
80
Load (kN)

Load (kN)

Load (kN)

160

60
80
120

40
80
R2.0BH3 R1.0BHy1 40
center center R1.5BHy2
20
40
end1 end1 center
end2 end2 end1

0 0 0

-0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 -0.001 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003
Steel Plate Strain (mm/mm) Steel Plate Strain (mm/mm) Steel Plate Strain (mm/mm)

Figure 12: Load–Steel plate strains

8.7 Steel Plate End–Slip

The end–slip, which was the relative movement between the concrete beam and the steel
plate at the interface, was measured at both ends of the steel plate as shown in Figure13.
During the early stage of loading, no interface slip was recorded and this was continued
until 11.8 and 10.8% of the ultimate loads of R1.0BN1 and R1.0BHy1 respectively, and these
beams exhibited a convergent value in both ductility and end–slip at failure. The end–slip of
R1.5BH2 and R1.5BHy2 begins at 4.7% and 11.6% of their ultimate loads respectively, and

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they exhibited convergent values in ductility and end–slip at failure. By the same way, the
R1.0BH1 and R2.0BH3 have end–slip starting at 29.2% and 56.3% of their ultimate loads
respectively, and then exhibited convergent values in ductility and end–slip at failure.
From Figure 13 and load–deflection curves Figure8 presented earlier, it can be seen that
as the slip increased loss of interaction was resulted, which allows for extra deflection, that
reflected a correlation between the end–slip and the midspan deflection of a plated beam.

160 200 240

200
160
120

160

120
Load (kN)

Load (kN)

Load (kN)
80 120

80

80

40
40
40
R1.0BN1 R1.0BH1 R1.5BH2
av. end slip av. end slip av. end slip

0 0 0

0.00 0.40 0.80 1.20 1.60 2.00 2.40 0.00 0.40 0.80 1.20 1.60 2.00 2.40 0.00 0.40 0.80 1.20 1.60 2.00 2.40
End Slip (mm) End Slip (mm) End Slip (mm)

360 160 240

320
200
280
120

240 160
LOAD (kN)

200
Load (kN)

Load (kN)

80 120
160

120 80

40
80
40
40 R2.0BH3 R1.0BHy1 R1.5BHy2
av. end slip av. end slip av.end slip

0 0 0

0.00 0.40 0.80 1.20 1.60 2.00 2.40 0.00 0.40 0.80 1.20 1.60 2.00 2.40 0.00 0.40 0.80 1.20 1.60 2.00 2.40
End Slip (mm) End Slip (mm) End Slip (mm)

Figure 13: Load–Slip curves

9. Conclusions

1.The highest repairing efficiency and best reduction in deflections, cracks and concrete strains
can be achieved with BH beams, followed by BHy and BN beams.
2. The appearance of the first crack can be delayed to increase the cracking load and to achieve
best reduction in crack widths with BN beams, followed by BHy and BH beams.
3.By increasing the compressive strength of the concrete, failure mode can be transformed from
diagonal tension cracks to ripping–off concrete cover and then to flexure mode.
4.The best repairing properties can be achieved with minimum ρ, as ρ increases the repairing
efficiency in deflection, cracking and strain profile decreases.
5.For constant external steel plate length, increase the plate thickness decreases deflections,
crack widths, strains and end–slip, but there is an increase in the concentration stresses at
the plate ends which changes the failure mode to premature failure with less ductility.

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6.By increasing the plate length, the full composite zone increases to allow a considerable
improvement in the beam behavior with a decrease in the concentration stresses at the plate
ends to delay the premature failure and to increase the ductility.
7.A comparable increase in slip and deflection with load increase reflects the correlation
between the end–slip and the midspan deflection of the plated beam.
8.The plate bonding technique delays the appearance of first cracks with a resulting increase in
service loads, and has a very clear role in controlling crack widths.
9.Due to controlling of deflections, cracking and concrete strains, this technique increases the
range of the elastic behavior of the repaired beams.

10. References

1. Ziraba, Y. N., Baluch, M. H., Basunbul, I. A., Sharif, A. M. and Al–Sulaimani, G. J.,
"Guidelines Towards The Design of Reinforced Concrete Beams with External Steel
Plates", ACI Structural Journal, V. 91, No. 6, Dec. 1994, PP. 639–646.
2. Swamy, R. N., Jones, R. and Bloxham, J., "Structural Behavior of Reinforced
Concrete Beams Strengthened by Epoxy–Bonded External Plates Reinforcement",
The Structural Engineer, V. 65A, No. 2, Feb. 1987, PP. 59–68.
3. AL–Saraj, W.K.,"Composite Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Beams with External
Steel Plates", M.Sc. Thesis, AL–Mustansiriya University, May.2000, 128PP.
4. Nguygen, D. M., Chan, T. K. and Cheong. H. K., "Brittle Failure and Bond
Development Length of CFRP–Concrete Beams", Journal of Composites for
Construction, V. 5, No. 1, Feb. 2001, PP. 12–17.
5. ASTM Designation C494–86, "Chemical Admixtures for Concrete", Annual Book of
ASTM Standards 1989, V. 04–02, PP. 248–255.
6. ACI Committee 318, "Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI
318M-05) and Commentary (ACI 318RM-05)", American Concrete Institute,
Farmington Hills, Michigan, 2005, 432 PP.
7. Jones, R., Swamy, R. N. and Charif, A., "Plate Separation and Anchorage of
Reinforced Concrete Beams Strengthened by Epoxy–Bonded Steel Plate", The
Structural Engineer, V. 66, No. 5/1, Mar. 1988, PP. 85–94.
8. Jones, R., Swamy, R. N. and Ang, T.H., "Under–and Over–Reinforced Beams with
Glued Steel Plates", The International Journal of Cement Composites Lightweight
Concrete, V. 4, No. 1, Feb. 1982, PP 19–32.
9. Swamy, R. N., Jones, R. and Charif, A., "The Effect of External Plate Reinforcement
on The Strengthening of Structurally Damaged RC Beams", The Structural Engineer,
V. 67, No. 3/7, Feb. 1989, PP. 45–54.

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Notation

amax: maximum distance from plate end to the nearest support.

Ap, As: area of external steel plate and internal steel bars respectively.
bc,bg,bp,bpmax: concrete ,glue layer, plate and the maximum width of plate respectively.
c, cb: neutral axis distance from top fiber in general at balance load conditions respectively.
d: effective depth of concrete section.
Ec, Es: modulus of elasticity of concrete and reinforcement.
f'c, fr: compressive and flexural strength of concrete.
fy, fyp: yield stress of internal steel bars and external steel plate respectively.
hc: overall depth of concrete section.
L, Lg, Lp: clear span length of beam, length of glue layer and external steel plate respectively.
Miu: ultimate moment of resistance of section with bar reinforcement alone.
P, Pcr,Pu: applied, cracking and central point load respectively.
tg, tp,tpb, tpmax: glue, plate, plate at balance cond. and the max. thickness of plate respectively.
wu: crack width at ultimate load.
ß1: factor depending on concrete compressive strength (0.65 – 0.85).
Δy, Δu: deflection at yield and ultimate load respectively.
εp,e, εp,m, εu: strain of ends and middle of plate and concrete at ultimate load respectively.
, max, min: ratio of tension reinforcement and its upper and lower limitations.
Ø: diameter of internal steel bars.

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