Experimental investigation on flexural behavior of timber beams repaired with CFRP plates

In this paper an experimental investigation on timber beams repaired and strengthened with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates is presented. The investigation involved six new timber beams and six old timber beams removed from the floor of an ancient historical building. The new timber beams were tested to evaluate the effectiveness of CFRP materials for flexural strengthening and repair. The old timber beams removed from the ancient building were tested to evaluate the effectiveness of CFRP materials for flexural repair of damaged timber structural elements. In both cases the CFRP plates were embedded into small grooves at the beams tensile zone. The obtained experimental results show that the application of CFRP plates is very effective for repairing both new and old timber beams in that it allows to completely restore and to increase their flexural strength and ductility.