Crack Width Prediction for Concrete Beams Strengthened with Carbon FRP Composites
Publication: Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 21, Issue 5
Abstract
Strengthening of RC beams and slabs using fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) is known to control crack width. However, no specific provisions are provided by most international design codes for predicting crack width in FRP-strengthened members. In this paper, models for predicting crack width of conventional RC members in five international codes are extended to FRP-strengthened beams by introducing appropriate modifications to account for the effect of FRP composites. Predictions of the crack width by the resulting models are evaluated and compared with experimental results. Both analytical and experimental results showed significant reductions in crack widths due to FRP strengthening. The efficiency of controlling crack width, however, decreased with increased amount of steel reinforcement and increased with increasing the ratio of FRP plate to beam width. Comparison of the codes’ predictions of the maximum crack width against experimental results revealed that some predictions are in good agreement with the measured values while others overestimate the maximum crack width by a significant margin.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Center of Excellence in Engineering Materials (CEREM) and the Center of Excellence for Concrete Research and Testing (CoE–CRT) at the College of Engineering, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. The help of engineers and technicians in the structural laboratory of the Civil Engineering Department at King Saud University is highly appreciated.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 21 • Issue 5 • October 2017
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 25, 2016
Accepted: Dec 22, 2016
Published online: Mar 10, 2017
Discussion open until: Aug 10, 2017
Published in print: Oct 1, 2017
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