Near surface mounted (NSM) technique has proved to be a very effectivetechnique for the flexural strengthening of RC beams. Due to the relatively smallthickness of the concrete cover that several beams present, cutting the bottom arm ofsteel stirrups for the installation of NSM laminates might be a possible strategy, whoseimplications on the beam’s load carrying capacity need to be assessed. When steelstirrups are cut, however, the shear resistance can be a concern. This also happenswhen a strengthening intervention is carried out to increase the flexural resistance of abeam, since in certain cases it is also necessary to increase the shear resistance in orderto avoid the occurrence of brittle shear failure. The present work assesses theeffectiveness of a technique that aims to increase both the flexural and shear resistanceof RC beams that have the bottom arm of the steel stirrups cut for the application ofNSM laminates. This assessment is performed by experimental and numericalresearch. The main results of the experimental program are presented and analyzed,and the innovative aspects of a constitutive model implemented in a computer programare described, being their virtues and deficiencies discussed.
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