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Abstract

This paper presents the test result of experimental study on flexural behavior of strengthened reinforced concrete beams by epoxy bonding steel plates to its soft. Twelve beams were tested to investigate the effectiveness of two types of epoxy glue of widely differing stiffness and the shear over span ratio. The beams were in two series, one in which strut action with shear failure dominant and the other flexure stress were governing. The results are discussed in the context of their implications for strengthening operations where the engineer is seeking to improve the deformation and cracking behavior under service loading or alternatively to increase the ultimate strength. It is shown that in deep beams where shear is the dominant factor, the use of bonded plates demonstrates no improvement in strength. It is also shown that for beams where failure is in flexure, glues of widely differing stiffness, in their hardened state, can perform satisfactorily under both service and ultimate loading. However, in general stiffer glues produced better results for service conditions and less stiff glues were better at ultimate load.