Abstract
n recent publications by the first author and his associates, a theoretical
model (backed by extensive test data by others) for premature plate
peeling failures of reinforced concrete beams strengthened in flexure
by gluing steel plates to their tension sides was reported. The primary
purpose of the present paper is to extend this theoretical model
to cases where fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) (as opposed to steel)
plates are used for upgrading reinforced concrete beams in fiexure.
As in the case of steel, due to large variations in the spacings
of stabilized cracks within the concrete cover zone (by a factor
of, say, 2) a unique solution for the FRP plate peeling load does
not exist, and one needs to resort to theoretical upper/lower bounds,
with the lower bound being the appropriate one for design purposes.
Finally, with the theoretical predictions for FRP and steel-plated
beams backed by nearly 170 (mainly large-scale) test results from
a number of independent sources, covering a wide range of beam design
parameters, the proposed model is thought to be reliable and generally
applicable.
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