PSI - Issue 37

Jamal A. Abdalla et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 37 (2022) 652–659 Abdalla et al./ Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2021) 000 – 000

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glass, aramid and basalt fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) in shear and flexural strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) beams have been well established and proved its effectiveness (Naser et al. 2019; Godat et al. 2020). Prior to that, steel was used as an external anchored reinforcement material. Fiber- reinforced polymer (FRP) composite sheets and plates have been used extensively in strengthening beams in flexure. Carbon (CFRP) and glass (GFRP) sheets are the most widely used FRP for externally strengthening of RC beams. A comprehensive review of the use of FRP in strengthening RC members has been addressed by (Bakis et al., 2002; Nanni 2003; Hollaway 2010; Rasheed 2014; Naser et al. 2019; Godat et al. 2020). Flexural strengthening of RC beams using externally bonded CFRP fabrics has been investigated thoroughly by many researchers (Ashour et al. 2004; Akbarzadeh et al. 2010; Lamann et al. 2004; Toutanji et al., 2006; Esfahani et al. 2007; Banjara et al. 2019; Hawileh et al. 2017; Rasheed et al. 2020). Hybrid combination of CFRP and GFRP for strengthening beams in flexure has also been investigated (Xiong et al. 2004; Attari et al. 2012; Hawileh et al. 2014; Loring et al., 2015; and Abdalla et al. 2018). Several researchers used CFRP for shear strengthening of RC beams (Dong et al., 2013; Baggio et al. 2014; Chen et al. 2017; Belarbi et al. 2012; Belarbi et al. 2013; Mhanna et al. 2020; Godat et al. 2020). Rasheed et el. (2017) used aluminum alloy (AA) plates for the first time to strengthen RC beams in flexure. The authors tested several beams that were strengthened with externally bonded AA plates with and without end U-wraps or anchorages. The beams were tested under four point bending. They observed that capacity of RC beams strengthened with AA plates increased by up to 40% and the RC beams also experienced significant yielding and strain hardening prior to their failure compared to those strengthened with FRP laminates. Abuodeh et al. (2019, 2021) also carried out an experimental investigation and tested flexural strengthening of RC beams using AA plates with mechanically-fastened anchorage systems. The authors observed that the flexural capacity of the strengthened beams have increased by up to 30% and exhibited interestingly a significant increase in ductility up to 84%. Abdalla et al. (2011, 2016) use AA plates also for the first time as EBR shear strengthening material and their investigation shown that the capacity of the strengthened beams has increased in the range of 24% – 89%. Abu-Obeidah et al. (2019) also used AA plates to strengthen RC beams in shear. The results of the tested beams showed an increase up to 37% in the load-carrying capacity and also an increase in midspan deflection compared to the control un-strengthened beams. These studies demonstrated the potential use of AA plates as flexural and shear strengthening material (Rasheed et al. 2017; Abu-Obeidah et al. 2019; Abdalla et al 2019) . Therefore, further investigations of the use of AA as externally strengthening material is warranted. 2. Experimental Program 2.1. Test Beam and Experimental set-up Four beams were prepared, one was used as a control beam with no external strengthening and the remaining three beams were strengthened with externally bonded AA plates. Figure 1 shows the dimensions and the reinforcement details of the tested beams. The beams were 125 mm wide, 240 mm deep and 1840 mm long. They were reinforced with 2 φ 10 mm diameter bars at the bottom and 2 φ 8 mm diameter bars on top. The shear reinforcement (stirrups) were 8 mm in diameter and they were spaced at 80 mm c/c as shown in Figure 1.