Strengthening of RC beams with prefabricated RC U cross- sectional plates

The topic of this study is to strengthen cracked beams with prefabricated RC U cross-sectional plates. The damaged beams were repaired by epoxy based glue. The repaired beams were strengthened using prefabricated plates. The strengthening plates were bonded to the bottom and side faces of the beams by anchorage rods and epoxy. The strengthened beams were incrementally loaded up to maximum load capacities. The experimental results were satisfactory since the load carrying capacities of damaged beams were increased approximately 76% due to strengthening. It was observed that strengthening plates had a dominant effect on the performance of beams in terms of both the post-elastic strength enhancement and the ductility. The experimental program was supported by a three-dimensional nonlinear finite element analysis. The experimental results were compared with the results obtained from the beam modeled with ANSYS finite element program.