Experimental and analytical investigation on flexural behaviour of RC beams strengthened with NSM CFRP prestressed concrete prisms

This investigation aims to study the flexural behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened with near-surface mounted (NSM) carbon fibre reinforced polymer prestressed concrete prisms (CFRP-PCPs). Eight RC beams were tested under monotonic loading until the failure load was reached. One beam was un-strengthened to act as a control beam. The other seven beams were strengthened with non-prestressed or prestressed NSM CFRP-PCPs. The effects of bond length, prestress level, and concrete type of the CFRP-PCPs on the flexural capacity, flexural crack and deflection are discussed in this paper. The results indicate that the flexural capacity of RC beams strengthened with NSM CFRP-PCPs was greater than the control beam. An obvious improvement was discovered in the crack resistance when the RC beams were strengthened with prestressed NSM CFRP-PCPs. The strengthened beams showed a higher first-cracking, yielding, and ultimate load as the bond length and prestress level of CFRP-PCPs increased up to a critical level. The beams strengthened with CFRP-PCPs, which were cast with ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC), exhibited greater load capacity than the corresponding beams with epoxy resin mortar. The analytical model of flexural response for the NSM CFRP-PCPs strengthening beams is presented. The analytical results are in good agreement with the experimental results, which revealed the NSM CFRP-PCPs is an effective technique for flexural strengthening of the RC beams.