Amjad H Abdul-Razaq Al-Modhafer - Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Kufa, An-Najaf, Iraq

Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) were widely used in strengthening reinforced concrete members in the last few years, these fibers consist mainly of high strength fibers which increase the member capacity in addition tochanging the mode of failure of the reinforced concrete beams. In this study, experimental and theoretical investigations were carried to find the behavior of reinforced concrete beams strengthened by CFRP in shear and bending. The experimental work included testing of 12 beams divided into 4 groups; each group contains 3 beams. The following parameters were taken into consideration: Concrete crushing strength. CFRP strengthening location (shear strengthening and both shear and flexure strengthening).It was found in beam with low crushing strength loads transfer to the CFRP at early stages while in those of high crushing strength, CFRP contribution only starts when full strength of the beam is fulfilled. A full bond between CFRP sheets and the concrete is assumed in the theoretical analysis. Comparison between thetheoretical and the experimental results revealed the validity of the numerical analysis and the developed methods such that there was a difference of 13% in the ultimate strength for the tested an analyzed beams.

CFRP, Strengthening, Reinforced Concrete, Shear, ANSYS