EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE REHABILITATION OF CORRODED REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAMS USING FIBER REINFORCED POLYMER

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

faculty of engineering minoufia university

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate rehabilitation of corrosion-damaged R.C. beams with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) and glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP), the effects of CFRP and GFRP amounts on flexural behavior of the beams and summarize the results of a multi-phase experimental program to investigate the viability of using externally bonded fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) laminates to rehabilitate corrosion-damaged reinforced concrete beams. Twenty reinforced concrete test specimens (100 × 150 × 1200 mm) were constructed, ten of them were subjected to an aggressive environment for 13 month, The reinforcement of the four specimens was subjected to accelerated corrosion by means of impressed (D/C) current up to 5% mass loss, four specimens were not subjected to any corrosion and strengthen by the same schemes of repaired, and the remaining two specimens were not subjected to any corrosion and were not strengthened (control). After being corroded, the beams were repaired by externally epoxy bonding FRP laminates to the concrete surface using two different schemes. Half-cell potential have been measured as metric of performance of the samples. Strain gauges were used on the concrete and FRP laminates to measure strain on beams. The specimens were tested in flexure in a four-point bending system. The results showed that FRP laminates successfully confined the corrosion cracking and spalling due to expansion of corrosion products. The FRP strengthened and repaired beams exhibited increased stiffness and ultimate strength over the unstrengthened specimens. The use of FRP sheets for repairing corroded reinforced concrete beams is an efficient technique to maintain structural integrity and enhance the behavior of such beams

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