Nonlinear finite element investigation on shear behaviour of simply supported and continuous RC T-beams retrofitted with deep embedded CFRP/steel bars

The shear performances of simply supported (SS) and continuous (CN) reinforced concrete T-beams strengthened with deep embedded (DE) steel or carbon fibre reinforced polymer bars are compared in this investigation. A nonlinear finite element (NLFE) analysis is performed for this purpose by modelling these beams with the FEM software by validating with the experimental data from the published papers. The experimental and NLFE shear strength values are then compared with those of the available design models to examine the efficacy of these models. Thereafter, the parametric study is conducted to obtain the impact of beam types (SS and CN) on the structural performances. It shows that the DE strengthened CN beam provides higher shear capacity in comparison to the corresponding SS beam. However, the enhancements of the shear strength of SS beam due to strengthening with DE bars are significantly higher than that of the corresponding CN one.