Abstract
This article presents the results of an experimental investigation of using carbon fiber–reinforced polymer sheets to enhance the behavior of reinforced concrete deep beams with large web openings in shear spans. A set of 18 specimens were fabricated and tested up to a failure to evaluate the structural performance in terms of cracking, deformation, and load-carrying capacity. All tested specimens were with 1500-mm length, 500-mm cross-sectional deep, and 150-mm wide. Parameters that studied were opening size, opening location, and the strengthening factor. Two deep beams were implemented as control specimens without opening and without strengthening. Eight deep beams were fabricated with openings but without strengthening, while the other eight deep beams were with openings in shear spans and with carbon fiber–reinforced polymer sheet strengthening around opening zones. The opening size was adopted to be 200 × 200 mm dimensions in eight deep beams, while it was considered to be 230 × 230 mm dimensions in the other eight specimens. In eight specimens the opening was located at the center of the shear span, while in the other eight beams the opening was attached to the interior edge of the shear span. Carbon fiber–reinforced polymer sheets were installed around openings to compensate for the cutout area of concrete. Results gained from the experimental test showed that the creation of openings in shear spans affect the load-carrying capacity, where the reduction of the failure load for specimens with the opening but without strengthening may attain 66% compared to deep beams without openings. On the other hand, the strengthening by carbon fiber–reinforced polymer sheets for beams with openings increased the failure load by 20%–47% compared with the identical deep beam without strengthening. A significant contribution of carbon fiber–reinforced polymer sheets in restricting the deformability of deep beams was observed.
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