Flexural behaviour of concrete beams strengthened with near sur-face mounted FRP bars

ABSTRACT

This research is designed to investigate the behaviour of concrete beams strength-ened in flexure with NSM FRP bars. A total of nine full-scale concrete beams (3100 mm-long × 200 mm-wide × 300 mm-deep) were constructed and tested till failure. Different parameters in-cluding type of FRP bars, bar diameter, and bonded length were investigated in this research. Test results showed that the use of NSM FRP bars is feasible and effective for strengthening concrete structures. This technique was successful to increase the flexural strength of concrete beams. Using NSM glass or carbon FRP bars increased the carrying capacity of the tested beams, in a similar way, by approximately 100%. However, beams strengthened with GFRP bars showed more deflection at failurethan thosestrengthened with CFRP bars.