CFRP strengthening of steel beam curved in plan

Nowadays, one of the practical, fast and easy ways to strengthen steel elements is the use of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP). Most previous research in the CFRP strengthening of steel members has carried out on straight steel members. The main difference between horizontal curved beams and straight beams under vertical load is the presence of torsional moment in the horizontal curved beams. In the other words, the horizontal curved beams are analyzed and designed for simultaneous internal forces included bending moment, torsional moment, and shear force. The horizontal curved steel beams are usually used in buildings, bridges, trusses, and others. This study explored the effect of the CFRP strengthening on the behavior of the horizontal curved square hollow section (SHS) steel beams. Four specimens were analyzed, one non-strengthened curved steel beam as a control column and three horizontal curved steel beams strengthened using CFRP sheets (under concentrated load and uniform distributed load). To analyze the horizontal curved steel beams, three dimensional (3D) modeling and nonlinear static analysis methods using ANSYS software were applied. The results indicated that application of CFRP sheets in some specific locations of the horizontal curved steel beams could increase the ultimate capacity of these beams, significantly. Also, the results indicated when the horizontal curved steel beams were under distributed load, the increase rate in the ultimate capacity was more than in the case when these beams were under concentrated load.