Numerical analysis of reinforced concrete beams containing bending and shear opening and strengthened with FRP sheet

Various methods are available to reinforce concrete members and structures. Wrapping the concrete beams with composite sheets is one of the suggested methods for increasing the load bearing capacity of concrete beams and specially those containing opening. In this paper, the influence of using two composite sheets reinforced with carbon (CFRP) and glass (GFRP) is studied on increasing the strength of concrete beams having opening. A number of concrete beams with and without openings were modeled in ANSYS and using the nonlinear analyses, the initial cracking load, ultimate failure load, cracking pattern and deflection were determined numerically for each beam. Different wrapping schemes were examined for increasing the load bearing capacity of the opening section and it was concluded that wrapping from both inside and exterior of opening with the mentioned composite patches provide the most enhancement in the opening zone. Also the CFRP patch showed better performance in comparison with the GFRP wrapping.