Performance of composite local glass fibre sheets and epoxy on flexural strengthening of reinforced concrete beams

Application of fibre sheets to strengthening reinforced concrete members has been investigated extensively. This paper presents the results on the use of composite local materials such as woven roving glass fibre sheets and epoxy to flexural strengthening of reinforced concrete beams. As many as 24 specimens with variation on the number of fibre layers (one and two layers) and end anchorage techniques (fasteners, U-shape straps, steel bolts) have been tested. It is shown that the effectiveness of glass fibre can be attained only on the specimens with one-layer sheet indicated by the rupture of fibre composite before specimen failure. Strengthening using two layers, bonding failure and delamination of fibre occur before the fibre develops maximum strength. Applying end anchors on the cut-off point of the two layers of fibreglass improves performance of the composite materials in the range of 5.0% to 16.5%. In addition, the end anchors also prevent delamination of the fibre sheet to occur at the cut-off point.