Shear strengthening of polystyrene aggregate concrete beams with near surface mounted GFRP bars

摘要

The application of near surface mounted (NSM) fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) bars is emergingnas an innovative and promising technology for increasing flexural and shear strength of deficientnreinforced concrete members. In order for this technique to perform effectively, a series ofnexperimental works have been carried out to characterise the flexural and shear behaviour ofnreinforced concrete members strengthened with NSM FRP bars. The latter is the focus of thisnpaper, and some of the preliminary results are included. A total of eight beams were loaded underna two-point symmetrical bending test. The parameters examined were the type and inclination ofnNSM bars and the type of adhesives employed. Characterisation of the tested beams, includingnmode of failure and load–deflection response, is presented and discussed in this paper. Thenresults of this investigation showed that the NSM bonded glass FRP bars can be used tonsignificantly increase both shear and flexural stiffness and the ultimate moment capacity of thenbeams, with an efficiency that varies depending on the tested variables.