• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.171-178
• /
• 2019

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have proved to be reliable as strengthening materials. Most of existing studies used single types of FRP composites. Therefore, in this experimental study, carbon FRP sheet, aramid FRP sheet, and hybrid FRP plate including glass fibers were fabricated, and the effect of pre-stressed FRP composites on flexural strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) beams was investigated. In total, eight RC beam specimens were fabricated, including one control beam (specimen N) without FRP composites and seven FRP-strengthened beams. The main parameters were type of FRP composite, the number of anchors used for pre-stressing, and thickness of FRP plates. As a result, the beam strengthened with pre-stressed FRP plate showed superior performance to the non-strengthened one in terms of initial strength, strength and stiffness at yielding, and ultimate strength. As the number of anchors and thickness of FRP plate (i.e., amount of FRP plates) increased, the strengthening effect increased as well. When hybrid FRP plates were pre-stressed, the strengthening effect was higher in comparison with pre-stressed single type FRP plate.