Modeling of nonlinear cyclic response of shear-deficient RC T-beams strengthened with side bonded CFRP fabric strips

The use of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) to strengthen reinforced concrete beams under bending and shear has gained rapid growth in recent years. The performance of shear strengthened beams with externally bonded CFRP laminate or fabric strips is raising many concerns when the beam is loaded under cyclic loading. Such concerns warrant experimental, analytical and numerical investigation of such beams under cyclic loading. To date, limited investigations have been carried out to address this concern. This paper presents a numerical investigation by developing a nonlinear finite element (FE) model to study the response of a cantilever reinforced concrete T-beam strengthened in shear with side bonded CFRP fabric strips and subjected to cyclic loading. A detailed 3D nonlinear finite element model that takes into account the orthotropic nature of the polymer's fibers is developed. In order to simulate the bond between the CFRP sheets and concrete, a layer having the material properties of the adhesive epoxy resin is introduced in the model as an interface between the CFRP sheets and concrete surface. Appropriate numerical modeling strategies were used and the response envelope and the load-displacement hysteresis loops of the FE model were compared with the experimental response at all stages of the cyclic loading. It is observed that the responses of the FE beam model are in good agreement with those of the experimental test. A parametric study was conducted using the validated FE model to investigate the effect of spacing between CFRP sheets, number of CFRP layers, and fiber orientation on the overall performance of the T-beam. It is concluded that successful FE modeling provides a practical and economical tool to investigate the behavior of such strengthened beams when subjected to cyclic loading.