Strain interaction of steel stirrup and EB-FRP web strip in shear-strengthened semi-deep concrete beams

Conventional reinforced concrete design codes assume ideal strain evolution in semi-deep beams with externally bonded fiber-reinforced polymer (EB-FRP) web strips. However, there is a strain interaction between internal stirrups and web strips, leading to a notable difference between code-based and experimental shear strengths. Current study provides an experiment-verified detailed numerical framework to assess the potential strain interaction under quasi-static monotonic load. Based on the observations, steel stirrups are effective only for low EB-FRP amounts and the over-strengthening of semi-deep beams prevents the stirrups from yielding, reducing its shear strength contribution. A notable difference is detected between the code-based and the study-based EB-FRP strain values, which is a function of the normalized FRP stress parameter. Semianalytical relations are proposed to estimate the effective strain and stress of the components considering the potential strain interaction. For the sake of simplification, a linearized correction factor is proposed for the EB-FRP web strip strain, assuming its restraining effect as constant for all steel stirrup amounts.