Numerical tracking of the behavior of repaired reinforced concrete beams by CFRP sheets against shear

This study simulates a procedure of rehabilitation of reinforced concrete beams with the aid of ANSYS 17 software. In this work, the BIRTH and DEATH procedure (in ANSYS) was adopted to model the post-repairing stage. This aspect has rarely been considered by previous studies that utilized a carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheet when retrofitting. To verify the suggested technique, six specimens were analyzed with two values of shear span-to-depth ratios (3 and 4) and three spaces of CFRP sheets (100mm, 150mm and 200mm). The effect of the repairing process on the structural performance of the retrofitted beam is also investigated. It is found that the suggested technique yielded a good agreement with the experimental results and the maximum differences in the failure loads between the numerical and experimental results were 10% and 4% for shear span-to-depth ratios of 3 and 4, respectively. It was also ascertained that upgrading reinforced concrete members within the early stages of loading showed a better enhancement in the loading capacity compared to upgrading reinforced concrete members close to the juncture of failure. © 2020 Trans Tech Publications Ltd, Switzerland.