Few decades ago, there were no guidelines for torsion design of reinforced concrete (RC) beams. Hence, many existing beams in older buildings have a lack of adequate torsional strength since they were not properly designed for torsion. One way to regain/rehabilitate adequate torsional strength is through application of externally bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP). To date, American Concrete Institute (ACI) code, as well as other building codes, do not have recommendations or provisions for strengthening RC beams for torsion using fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites due to the inexistence of conclusive experimental and analytical data. Of the very limited works on this behavior, the majority of the focus has been devoted to experimental works. Realistic spandrel beams in a building that lack torsional strength were modelled in this research, and strengthened to examine various behaviors such as load capacity, deflection, torque, twist, crack propagation, ductility, and failure modes. For this purpose, six RC beams were tested: four reference beams and two strengthened beams were used to observe additional capacity through the use of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets. To strengthen the beams, one layer of sheets was completely wrapped around them. Results show an additional torsional capacity of 63% and 178% relative to their respective reference beams. Through strengthening, modes of failure of the beams changed from brittle torsion-dominated failure to shear-flexure failure in both beams. The study also included crack pattern and ductility of test beams. Cracks became smaller in width and more evenly distributed across the torsion-loaded area, and torsional ductility was enhanced by 266% and 165% respectively. Flexural ductility was also greatly enhanced by more than five folds. Finally, using ACI 318-14, ACI 440.2R-02, and available formulae in the literature, the beams were analyzed and the respective values were compared.
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