EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF STRUCTURAL RESPONSE OF REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAMS STRENGTHENED WITH ANCHORED FRPS

Abstract

The response of simply supported lightly reinforced concrete (RC) beams under monotonic loading is experimentally and numerically investigated. The beams are loaded in four-point bending with   two external vertical concentrated loads. They are reinforced with longitudinal and transverse reinforcement and strengthened with carbon (CFRP) or glass (GFRP) fabrics. While experimental methods of investigation are extremely useful in obtaining information about the behaviour of reinforced concrete, the use of numerical models helps in developing a good understanding of the behaviour at lower cost.

In this study ANSYS finite element program is used to numerically verify the response of the RC beams obtained experimentally. ANSYS Solid65 nonlinear concrete solid elements are used to model the concrete, while LINK180 elements are used to model longitudinal and transverse steel reinforcement and Shell43 elements for the FRPs. The material characteristics used in the nonlinear analyses are obtained experimentally. The numerical results obtained are in good agreement with the experimental. The load capacity of the beams is within 10% of the experimental values and the failure modes and crack patterns are in good agreement with the experimental