An Experimental Investigation on Flexural Behavior of RC Beams Strengthened with Different Techniques

Abstract

In in many earthquake-prone regions and countries including Mediterranean area, India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, existing buildings with its structural elements such as Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams and columns, which show little ductility, have consistently exhibited poor performance during past earthquakes and consequently unavoidable earthquake damages on these structures led to a significant loss of world cultural heritage. Therefore, appropriate strengthening techniques have to be implemented in order to improve load carrying capacities and overall ductility. This paper summarizes experimental investigations of damaged and undamaged RC beams. In this context, twenty-seven beams were tested under combined bending and shear. Eighteen RC beams were damaged and then strengthened with four different methods while nine were kept undamaged. The behavior of damaged and undamaged RC beams is discussed with emphasis on the load deflection and strain characteristics. The results indicate that the specimens strengthened with full jacketing had slightly higher load carrying capacity than the reference beams strengthened with other techniques. The experimental results can also be used for understanding the most convenient strengthened technique for damaged beams.