Finite Element Analysis of RC Beams Strengthened with FRP Sheets under Bending

Attaching unidirectional FRP to the tension face of RC beams has provided an increase in stiffness and load capacity of the structure. However, due to the brittle nature of unidirectional FRP, the ductility of the beam decreases. Consequently, the safety of the structure is compromised due to the reduction in ductility. In this paper after the experimental study, three-dimensional nonlinear finite element (FE) models adopted by ANSYS to examine the structural behavior of the reinforced high strength concrete (HSC) beams strengthened with FRP sheets. The major test variables were included the different layouts of CFRP sheets and tensile reinforcement ratio. More particularly, the change in strength of the beams as the number of FRP layers and tensile reinforcement bar ratio are altered is investigated. Six under-reinforced concrete beams were fabricated and tested to failure. With the exception of the control beam, one or four layers of CFRP were applied to the specimens. The crack patterns in the beams are also presented. The load deflection plots obtained from numerical study show good agreement with the experimental results