The problem of shear in RC beams strengthened with CFRP laminates

The effectiveness of externally bonded reinforcement of a strengthened Reinforced Concrete (RC) beam subjected to a shear-dominant loading regime is not well-established. The aim of this paper is to clarify the structural performance of RC beams without any internal shear reinforcement but strengthened with Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) laminates when the primary mode of failure of the un-strengthened beam is in shear. Four RC beams were specifically designed without and with an externally anchorage system, which was carefully detailed to enhance the benefits of the strengthening lamina and counteract the destructive effects of shear forces. All the four beams were identical in terms of their geometry, internal reinforcement and concrete strength but varied in their test loading regime to highlight the role of shear. All the beams were tested under four point bending and extensively instrumented to monitor strains, cracking, load capacity and failure modes. The structural response of the four beams is then critically analysed in terms of deformability, strength and failure processes under a shear loading regime. It is shown that with a carefully designed anchorage system, a predominantly brittle shear failure of a strengthened beam can be transformed to an almost ductile failure with well-defined enhancement of structural performance in terms of both deformation and strength. The results presented in this paper should enable engineers to totally avoid shear failure in strengthening beams with little or even no internal shear reinforcement.