Flexural strengthening of RC beams using externally bonded aluminum plates: An experimental and numerical study

This research investigated the flexural strengthening of RC beams using Aluminum plates (AP). An experimental program including 8 RC beams were carried out. The width and depth of the beam were 150 and 300 mm respectively while the effective span of the beam was 1560 mm. The tensile reinforcement ratios of the beams were 0.38 and 0.548%. The external APs ratios (the cross sectional area of AP to the beam cross sectional area) were 0.10, 0.37 and 0.74% while the AP length to the beam length was 0.93. A Finite element analysis (FEA) was investigated to study many variables that influenced on the ultimate load and the behavior of the AP-strengthened beams such as AP length, using shear connectors, using various techniques of the end anchorages and using anchored/unanchored U-shaped APs. It was noticed that the improvement ratios of the ultimate load and the ductility of strengthened beams with tensile reinforcement ratio of 0.38% was better than the beams with tensile reinforcement ratio of 0.548%. The AP length to the beam span ratio had a significant effect on the ultimate load, the ductility and the failure mode of the beams. The ultimate deflection and the ultimate load of the AP strengthened beams that used shear connectors increased by 165 and 54 % respectively compared to the beam without shear connectors. Using U-shaped AP jacket accompanied with end anchorages enhanced the ultimate load by 109%. The ultimate load of the beams with bolted U-shaped AP jacket increased by 128%.