SHEAR STRENGTHENING OF REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAMS USING NEAR SURFACE MOUNTED GLASS FIBRE REINFORCED POLYMER

Near Surface Mounted Reinforcement (NSMR) method is a recent strengthening technique based on bonding Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) into grooves on the concrete cover of the elements to be strengthened. In this paper, an experimental program was carried out to assess the effectiveness of the NSMR technique in the shear strengthening of reinforced concrete beams. A number of beams were strengthened in shear using NSM Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) and tested to analyze the influence of selected test parameters such as the type, spacing, and inclination of the NSM reinforcement on the structural behaviour and failure mode. One beam specimen was strengthened in shear using GFRP sheet as U wrap over the entire shear span by the conventional Externally Bonded Reinforcement (EBR) technique and tested for direct comparison with NSMR technique.