Failure modes of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with carbon fiber sheet in fire

It is shown that elevated temperature may cause a change in the failure mode of reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened with carbon fiber sheet (CFS), as flexural failure at room temperature can be transformed into shear failure in fire. In this paper, an analysis procedure for flexural capacity and shear capacity of RC beams strengthened in flexure using CFS at high temperature is discussed and validated by test results from literatures. A parametric study is conducted for the critical situation (i.e., flexural failure and shear failure occur simultaneously in fire) of the strengthened beams with fire insulation. The influences of some parameters, such as span-to-height ratio, confinement ratio, rich degree of shear capacity, thickness of concrete cover, thickness of fire insulation, and strengthening ratio, on the tensile reinforcement ratio related to the critical situation are examined. Based on the aforementioned analysis procedure and extensive numerical results, recommendations for fire-safety design of the flexurally strengthened and insulated beams are discussed preliminarily. It is important to recognize that increasing of the thickness of fire insulation is not always good for the fire performance of the strengthened beams. To account for the adverse influence of concrete shear cracks on shear capacity of the strengthened beams exposed to fire, an additional reduction factor may be considered for the shear resistance of steel stirrups at high temperature.