OPTIMUM DESIGN OF THE THICKNESS OF CARBON FIBRE REINFORCED POLYMER MATERIAL (CFRP) REQUIRED FOR STRENGTHENING OF DEFICIENT REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAM

📄 Project Abstract

A Carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) has emerged as promising material for rehabilitation of existing reinforced concrete structures. However, one of the major concerns of using this material is its high cost. In this research, a classical optimization technique was employed to optimize the thickness of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer material used in strengthening of shear and flexuralydeficient reinforced concrete beam. A simply supported reinforced concrete beam was designed in accordance with Eurocode 2 design criteria;the beam was subjected to shear deficiency and subsequently flexural deficiency at 25% capacity reduction level. Strengthening of the beam was achieved using externally bonded system with CFRP material of 1.2mm design thickness and in accordance with Intelligent sensing for imaging structures(ISIS2004) strengthening guidelines. Results indicate that the application of CFRP material increased the overall shear and flexural resistance of the beam by 95% and 79% res...