Repair of reinforced concrete beams in shear using composite materials PRFG subjected to cyclic loading

Abstract

Nowadays, finding new approaches to attenuate the effects of the catastrophic shear failure mode for reinforced concrete beams is a major challenge. Generally the bending failure is ductile. It allows a redistribution of the stresses providing an early warning, whereas the rupture by shear is fragile and sudden which can lead to detrimental consequences for the structures. This research focuses on the repair of deep beams in reinforced concrete shear subjected to 4-point bending. After being preloaded at different levels of their ultimate loads, the beams are repaired by bonding a composite material made of an epoxy resin reinforced by glass fibers. The main objective of this study is to contribute to the mastery of a new method developed by the authors that consists by banding the cracks in critical zones in order to avoid fragile ruptures due to the shear force. This new technique led to better results in terms of mechanical properties when compared to conventional methods, notably the absence of the debonding of the composite found in the case of the repairs of the beams by bands or U-shaped composites. The feasibility, the performances and the behavior of the beams have been examined. The experimental approach adopted using this new technique has shown the influence of the type of loading on the fatigue behavior. In addition, the repair performed led to a considerable improvement in the fatigue durability of the preloaded beam.