Steel Fibres: Effective Way to Prevent Failure of the Concrete Bonded with FRP Sheets

Although the efficiency of steel fibres for improving mechanical properties (cracking resistance and failure toughness) of the concrete has been broadly discussed in the literature, the number of studies dedicated to the fibre effect on structural behaviour of the externally bonded elements is limited. This experimental study investigates the influence of steel fibres on the failure character of concrete elements strengthened with external carbon fibre reinforced polymer sheets. The elements were subjected to different loading conditions. The test data of four ties and eight beams are presented. Different materials were used for the internal bar reinforcement: in addition to the conventional steel, high-grade steel and glass fibre reinforced polymer bars were also considered. The experimental results indicated that the fibres, by significantly increasing the cracking resistance, alter the failure character from splitting of the concrete to the bond loss of the external sheets and thus noticeably increase the load bearing capacity of the elements.