Strengthening of concrete beams by CFRP: Experimental study and finite element analysis

This work presents an experimental study on the mechanical behavior of structural concrete reinforced by carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP). The main purpose of this study is to test the applicability of this method of reinforcement in the beams to improve the behavior of concrete: strength and ductility. An experimental characterization of mechanical behavior by tensile test by three point bending is achieved, namely, the reinforcement of the lower part of the beam (15x15x75) cm3 with composite material, Based on the ANSYS simulation, a model was developed to validate the different results obtained experimentally. The experimental results show that the reinforced concrete offered a great improvement in strength and ductility; in effect an influence directly on the failure mode is observed and then read by the value of strength and ultimate deformation. The tensile bending of beams reinforced by CFRP is more than 295% in comparison with that of non-reinforced beams. The gain maximum of ductility is 247%. The experimental results have been compared with the theoretical models, a good correlation was obtained.