Behaviour of RC Deep Beams Strengthened with Externally Bonded GFRP Fabrics: An Experimental Study

Abstract

This paper aims to study on shear behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) deep beams strengthened with externally bonded GFRP (Glass fibre reinforced polymer) fabrics. Six numbers of RC deep beams were constructed. Three beams were left as it is to count as the reference beams and the rest three beams were retrofitted with GFRP sheets in various patterns. Two of these beams were wrapped with single layer and one beam was wrapped with double layers of GFRP and tested under single-point loading. The load at initial crack, peak load and contribution due to GFRP were recorded. A key discussion has been made on the enhancement of shear capacity of strengthened beams with respect to the un-strengthened beams. A comparison has also been made between the obtained experimental strength and predicted shear strength evaluated from available design guidelines.