Simulation study on CFRP strengthened reinforced concrete beam under four-point bending

This paper presents numerical modeling of the structural behavior of CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced polymer) strengthened RC (reinforced concrete) beams under four-point bending. Simulation of debonding at the CFRP-concrete interface was focused, as it is the main failure mode of CFRP strengthened RC beams. Here, cohesive layer was employed to model the onset of debonding, which further helps to describe the post debonding behavior of the CFRP strengthened RC beam. In addition, the XFEM approach was applied to investigate the effects of crack localization on strain field on CFRP sheet and rebar. The strains obtained from the XFEM correlate better to the test results than that from CDP (concrete damaged plasticity) model. However, there is a large discrepancy between the experimental and simulated load-displacement relationships, which is due to the simplification of concrete constitutive law.