Experimental study on the behavior of reinforced concrete beam boosted by a post-tensioned concrete layer

Nowadays, strengthening of buildings is an inclusive and effective field in civil engineering that is not only applicable to the buildings but also it can be developed for the bridges. Rehabilitation and strengthening of structures are highly recommended for the existing structures due to the alter in codes and provisions as well as buildings' use change. Extensive surveys have been conducted in this field in the world that propose wide variety of methods for strengthening of structures. In recent years, more specific researches have been carried out that present novel materials for rehabilitation beside proposing methods and performing techniques. In the current study, a novel technique for developing the bending capacity of reinforced concrete beams to enhance their performance as well as rehabilitating and reforming the performance of reinforced concrete beams with nonstandard lap splices, has been proposed. In this method, a post-tensioned concrete layer is added to the side face of the concrete beams built in 1:1 scale. Results reveals that addition of the post-tensioned layer enhances the beams' which were subjected to the four-point pushover test after they were reinforced. The testing process ended when the samples reached complete failure status. Results show that the performance and flexural capacity of reinforced beams without lap splice is improved 22.7% compared to the samples without the post-tensioned layer, while it is enhanced up to at least 80% compared to the reinforced beams with nonstandard lap splice. Furthermore, the location of plastic hinges formation was transformed from the beam's mid-span to the 1⁄3 of span's end and the beam's cracking pattern was significantly improved.