Strengthening of Reinforced Concrete Beams using Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer Laminate

Strengthening of structures using Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) shows better promise for extending the life span of structures. The advantages of using FRP include light weight, ease of installation, minimal labour costs and site constraints, high strength-to-weight and durability. Fibre reinforced polymer application is a very effective way to repair and strengthen structures that have become structurally weak over their life span.The objective of this work is to evaluate the structural behaviour of reinforced concrete beams with externally bonded FRP reinforcement. Two different grades (M15, M25) of reinforced concrete beams were casted and curing is done for a period of 28 days. Reinforced concrete beams of two different grades bonded with Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) laminate of varying (0.50 mm, 1.00 mm) thickness were used. Totally six rectangular beams of 1600 mm×100 mm×200 mm size were cast. Two beams were used as reference beams for both grades and the remaining beams were provided with GFRP laminates. The variable considered for the study is thickness of GFRP laminate. The study parameters of this investigation included yield load, ultimate load, yield deflection and ultimate deflection of the test beams. The performance of FRP wrapped beams was compared with that of unwrapped beam. The test results were showed that the beams strengthened with GFRP laminates exhibited better performance.