Date of Award

5-9-2012

Thesis Type

masters

Document Type

Thesis

Divisions

eng

Department

Faculty of Engineering

Institution

University of Malaya

Abstract

Most of the researches on strengthening so far had been focused on rectangular reinforced concrete (RC) beams. Researches on strengthening of RC T-beams are rather limited. This study focuses on the application of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminate for strengthening the tension zone of RC T-beam constrained by the presence of a stump (representative of a column) and the effect of varying the length of the strengthening laminates. Three different orientations of the CFRP laminates were tested to evaluate the best orientation. The behaviour of RC T-beams (with stump) flexurally strengthened both in tension and compression zones were also studied here. In addition, FEM (non-linear finite element analysis) was applied to model the experimental results. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed strengthening method, a total of eight RC T-beams were fabricated and tested. Four of them were cast with a column stump in the midspan to provide constraints for the application of CFRP laminates. The other four beams were cast without any column stump. The following orientations were chosen. Orientation 1 was the full application of CFRP laminate along the centre of beam length assuming no stump was present. Orientation 2 was the full application of CFRP laminate alongside the stump parallel to beam length and Orientation 3 was the application of CFRP laminate around the stump and a continuous strip from the side of the stump to the ends of the beam. The beams were tested using the three point bending test set-up. The results showed that the load carrying capacities of the tension zone strengthened beams were increased by about 50% compared to un-strengthened beams. The length of the CFRP laminate recommended in the Technical Report 55 did not prevent end peeling but it did increase the load bearing capacity of the RC T-beam. The most suitable orientation of CFRP laminate determined was Orientation 2. The load carrying capacity had increased by about 70% compared to un-strengthened beam by strengthening both the tension and compression zone. The FEM analyses were in good agreement with the experimental results.

Note

Thesis (M.Eng.) - Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 2012.

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