• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.105-120
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• 2011

The strengthening and rehabilitation of reinforced concrete structures with externally bonded carbon fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) laminates has shown excellent performance and, as a result, this technology is rapidly replacing steel plate bonding techniques. This paper addresses this issue, and presents results deals with the influence of external bonded CFRP-reinforcement on the time-dependent behavior of reinforced concrete beams. A total of eight reinforced concrete beams with cracked and un-cracked section, with and without externally bonded CFRP laminates, were investigated for their creep and shrinkage behavior. All the beams considered in this paper were simply supported and subjected to a uniform sustained loading for the period of six months. The main parameters of this study are two types of sustained load and different degrees of strengthening scheme for both cracked and un-cracked sections of beams. Both analytical and experimental work has been carried out on strengthened beams to investigate the cracking and deflection performance. The applied sustained load was 56% and 38% of the ultimate static capacities of the un-strengthened beams for cracked and un-cracked section respectively. The analytical values based on effective modulus method (EMM) are compared to the experimental results and it is found that the analytical values are in general give conservative estimates of the experimental results. It was concluded that the attachment of CFRP composite laminates has a positive influence on the long term performance of strengthened beams.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.249-262
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• 2019

In this study, high strength aluminum alloys (AA) plates are proposed as a new construction material for strengthening reinforced concrete (RC) beams. The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate AA plate's suitability as externally bonded reinforcing (EBR) materials for retrofitting shear deficient beams. A total of twenty RC beams designed to fail in shear were strengthened with different spacing and orientations. The specimens were loaded with four-points loading till failure. The considered outcome parameters included load carrying capacity, deflection, strain in plates, and failure modes. The results of all tested beams showed an increase up to 37% in the load carrying capacity and also an increase in deflection compared to the control un-strengthened beams. This demonstrated the potential of adopting AA plates as EBR material. Finally, the shear contribution from the AA plates was predicted using the models available in the ACI440-08, TR55 and FIB14 design code for fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) plates. The predicted results were compared to experimental testing data with the ratio of the experimentally measured ultimate load to predicted load, range on the average, between 93% and 97%.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.17-26
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• 2020

This study examined the structural effectiveness of the unbonded technique originally developed for seismic strengthening of unreinforced masonry walls on the basis of the prestressed steel bars and glass fiber (GF) grids. The masonry walls were strengthened by using individual steel bars or GF grids and their combination. Test results showed that the proposed technique was favorable in enhancing the strength, stiffness, and ductility of the masonry walls. When compared with the lateral load capacity, stiffness at the ascending branch of the lateral load-displacement curve, and energy dissipation capacity of the unstrengthened control wall, the increasing ratios were 110%, 120%, and 360%, respectively, for the walls strengthened with the individual GF grids, 140%, 130%, and 510%, respectively, for the walls strengthened with the individual steel bars, and 160%, 130%, and 840%, respectively, for the walls strengthened with the combination of steel bars and GF grids. The measured lateral load capacities of masonry walls strengthened with the developed technique were in relatively good agreement with the predictions by the equations proposed by Yang et al. Overall, the developed technique is quite promising in enhancing the seismic performance of unreinforced masonry walls.