Abstract
The objective of this research is to provide the engineering science necessary for the implementation of externally bonded fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement for the repair of concrete structures. The material form of interest is highly flexible glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) sheets that adhere to a concrete surface after minimum surface preparation by means of a polymeric resin. The present investigation focuses on the flexural behavior of concrete beams strengthened with glass fiber fabric on tension zone. Four point bending flexural tests were conducted up to failure on concrete beams strengthened with one, two and three layers of glass fiber fabric and beams that were precracked up to 2/3 of its ultimate load carrying capacity and strengthened (rehabilitated) with one, two and three layers of glass fiber fabrics. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is validated by developing finite element (FE) models to simulate the behavior of four full-size beams from linear through nonlinear response using the ANSYS program.
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