Flexural Strength of RC Beams Wrapped With Aramid Fiber

This paper presents the flexural behavior of Aramid fiber reinforced polymer (AFRP) strengthened reinforced concrete (RC) beams of M25 grade of concrete. The experimental program included strengthening and testing of simply supported rectangular cross section beam of size 100mm x 150mm x 1200 mm strengthened with Aramid fiber polymer sheets. Total twenty specimens were tested out of which two beam specimens were tested as control beams and remaining for various damage degrees (i.e. 0%, 70%, 80%, 90%, and 100%). The effects of strengthening on load carrying capacity and effect of damage degree are discussed in detail. The results indicate that the load carrying capacity of beams was significantly increased as the number of layer increased. The validation of the experimental results was done by using ANSYS software. In order to study the flexural behavior of the beam, the specimens were only subjected to two-point loading mechanism only. The beams were wrapped with AFRP sheets in single layer and double layers along the length at the bottom face of the beam. The present work includes Effect of damage degree of the beam and effect of number of layers. Thus it is a feasible method for strengthening and retrofitting of RC beams.