Time-dependent behavior of RC beams strengthened with externally bonded FRP plates: interfacial stresses analysis

External bonding of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites has becomes a popular technique for strengthening concrete structures all over the world. An important failure mode of such strengthened members is the debonding of the FRP plate from the concrete due to high interfacial stresses near the plate ends. For correctly installed FRP plate, failure will occur within the concrete. Accurate predictions of the interfacial stresses are prerequisite for designing against debonding failures. In particular, the interfacial stresses between a beam and soffit plate within the linear elastic range have been addressed by numerous analytical investigations. In this study, the time-dependent behavior of RC beams bonded with thin composite plate was investigated theoretically by including the effect of the adherend shear deformations. The time effects considered here are those that arise from shrinkage and creep deformations of the concrete. This paper presents an analytical model for the interfacial stresses between RC beam and a thin FRP plate bonded to its soffit. The influence of creep and shrinkage effect relative to the time of the casting and the time of the loading of the beams is taken into account. Numerical results from the present analysis are presented to illustrate the significance of time-dependent of adhesive stresses.