Experimental investigation on the behavior of RC arches strengthened by GFRP composites

摘要

An experimental investigation on the behavior of RC arches strengthened by glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites is presented. Twelve samples were tested in order to determine influence of arrangement and number of GFRP layers on RC arches having different steel reinforcement ratios. The arches were tested under centrally concentrated point load using displacement control condition. Load-deflection behavior, failure mode, GFRP debonding, angle between hinge formation and supports and crack propagation pattern are studied extensively. Based on test results, extrados strengthening is much more effective than intrados strengthening in increasing ultimate load carrying capacity which can reach up to 200%. However, providing extrados with excessive GFRP layers might result in an over-reinforced section with brittle collapse in shear failure mode. The level of enhancement of ultimate load depends on the amount of steel reinforcement ratio and is higher for arches with lower steel content. Generally, GFRP strengthening highly improved energy absorption capacity of arch structures, while provided greater linear range up to pick load in load-displacement behavior. In addition, analytical methods are applied for evaluation of flexural strength, and the results are compared with the experiments. Good agreement is obtained between the test results and analysis. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.