Identifying CFRP strip width influence on fracture of RC beams by acoustic emission

Carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) is a widely used material to strengthen deficient structures externally. While CFRP has numerous advantages, debonding is the main problem of CFRP-strengthened reinforced concrete (RC) beams as it causes sudden failure. Thus, to circumvent this problem, failure modes of an RC beam strengthened with CFRP need to be understood. There are various application types of CFRP strips and plates depending on their ease of application and contribution as a strengthening material such as side bonding and wrapping. Using CFRP as a strip is a cost effective way and is widely preferred. Strip width and spacing have a firsthand effect on the mechanical behavior of the strengthened element. Accordingly, in this study, AE parameter analysis and SiGMA analysis were applied for identification of CFRP strip width effect on fracture of RC beams having different CFRP widths. Within the scope of the experimental study, a reference beam and two CFRP-strengthened beams were tested under cyclic loading and monitored by AE. Both mechanical and AE results show that the behavior is not enhanced by increasing the strip width.