The numerical investigations were carried out to study the behavior of reinforced concrete beams strengthened by CFRP under different loading conditions (pure bending and combined bending and torsion). The numerical work included analysis of eight experimentally tested beams of rectangular cross-section dimensions of (160×240) mm and (2600) mm length keeping the area of the ordinary reinforcement constant for all beams. The following parameters were taken into consideration, twisting to bending moment ratio (T/M) and CFRP strengthening arrangement. The analyzed beams are divided into four groups. Each group consists of two beams; the first beam is without CFRP strengthening, the other beam is strengthened with CFRP. Each beam is loaded to a different loading conditions (pure bending, T/M=0.5, T/M=1.0, T/M=2.0). The CFRP sheets were attached externally to the beam. Analysis results were analyzed based on influence of CFRP on ultimate load and vertical mid-span deflection. According to the numerical study, it was found that all strengthening arrangements of CFRP sheets exhibited a significant increase in ultimate strength. The three-dimensional (3D) finite element model (FEM) utilized in present work is capable to simulate the behavior of externally strengthened reinforced concrete beams by CFRP. Full bond connections (no slip) are assumed between the CFRP sheets and surface of concrete. The comparison between the numerical and the experimental results declared the validity of the numerical analysis where the range of the (Pexp./PANSYS) ratio in ultimate load was from 0.847 to 1.157. The general behavior of the (FEM) shows good agreement with the test results from the experimentally tested beams.
Deformational Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Beams under Service Loading Conditions
