Strengthening and repair of concrete foundation beams with carbon fiber composite materials

For several years Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) have been gradually replacing steel plates in the reinforcement of concrete structures that are damaged or need increased resistance. It has long been established that the addition of CFRP laminates to structures such as beams and slabs, increases their bending and shearing strength considerably. However, the behaviour of foundation beams with these reinforcements is not clear. The essential issue in the analysis of reinforced structures with composite materials is to understand the individual behaviour of each material and its interaction with the remaining ones. In this paper, bending and shearing strength of concrete foundation beams with CFRP reinforcement are analyzed through the study of their load capacity variation and beam deflections. Different height/span beam relations are considered. The numerical modeling is performed by the Finite Elements Method with the Abaqus program. Non-linear models are used for concrete and soil, and a linear elastic model is adopted for composites materials.