Torsional strengthening of RC beams using stainless steel wire mesh -Experimental and numerical study

Locally available Stainless SteelWire Mesh (SSWM) bonded on a concrete surface with an epoxy resin is explored as an alternative method for the torsional strengthening of Reinforced Concrete (RC) beam in the present study. An experiment is conducted to understand the behavior of RC beams strengthened with a different configuration of SSWM wrapping subjected to pure torsion. The experimental investigation comprises of testing fourteen RC beams with cross section of 150 mm150 mm and length 1300 mm. The beams are reinforced with 4-10 mm diameter longitudinal bars and 2 leg-8 mm diameter stirrups at 150 mm c/c. Two beams without SSWM strengthening are used as control specimens and twelve beams are externally strengthened by six different SSWM wrapping configurations. The torsional moment and twist at first crack and at an ultimate stage as well as torque-twist behavior of SSWM strengthened specimens are compared with control specimens. Also the failure modes of the beams are observed. The rectangular beams strengthened with corner and diagonal strip wrapping configuration exhibited better enhancement in torsional capacity compared to other wrapping configurations. The numerical simulation of SSWM strengthened RC beam under pure torsion is carried out using finite element based software ABAQUS. Results of nonlinear finite element analysis are found in good agreement with experimental results.