Title:
Strengthening of Concrete Beams Using Innovative Ductile Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Fabric
Author(s):
Nabil F. Grace, George Abdel-Sayed, and Wael F. Ragheb
Publication:
Structural Journal
Volume:
99
Issue:
5
Appears on pages(s):
692-700
Keywords:
concrete; ductility; fiber reinforcement; flexure
DOI:
10.14359/12309
Date:
9/1/2002
Abstract:
An innovative, uniaxial ductile fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) fabric has been researched, developed, and manufactured (in the Structural Testing Center at Lawrence Technological University) for strengthening structures. The fabric is a hybrid of two types of carbon fibers and one type of glass fiber, and has been designed to provide a pseudo-ductile behavior with a low yield-equivalent strain value in tension. The effectiveness and ductility of the developed fabric has been investigated by strengthening and testing eight concrete beams under flexural load. Similar beams strengthened with currently available uniaxial carbon fiber sheets, fabrics, and plates were also tested to compare their behavior with those strengthened with the developed fabric. The fabric has been designed so that it has the potential to yield simultaneously with the steel reinforcement of strengthened beams and hence, a ductile plateau similar to that for the nonstrengthened beams can be achieved. The beams strengthened with the developed fabric exhibited higher yield loads and achieved higher ductility indexes than those strengthened with the currently available carbon fiber strengthening systems. The developed fabric shows a more effective contribution to the strengthening mechanism.