The effect of shear strength on load capacity of FRP strengthened beams with recycled concrete aggregate

Shear failure of reinforced concrete members is brittle and catastrophic, and should be avoided. This work presents a comparative study of concrete beams with natural crushed stone and those incorporating recycled concrete aggregate (RCA). The study indicates that the equation presented in ACI 318-14 Code requirements for predicting the shear strength of concrete is less conservative for RCA concrete beams. The presented experimental investigations show that strengthening with fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) fabrics can be designed so that the shear capacity of the beams with weaker (RCA) concrete is higher than that of the control beams with natural aggregate concrete. The design of the FRP strengthening system and the reasons for the effectiveness of the design are explained.