Shear behaviour of R.C.T-beams strengthened by CFR plastic

The strengthening and retrofit of existing, reinforced concretestructures has become one of the most important challenges in civilengineering. Civil engineers are frequently faced with the problemsassociated with strengthening. Shear collapse of reinforced concrete ( RC )members is catastrophic and occurs suddenly with no advance warning ofdistress. In several occasions existing RC beams have been found to bedeficient in shear and in need of strengthening.Fiber Reinforced Plastic ( FRP ) composites are being researchedworldwide as a promising solution for strengthening of reinforced concretestructures. This is due to the many advantages of these materials affordwhen compared to conventional steel reinforced or concrete encasements.Their light weight, high strength-to-weight ratio, ease of handling andapplication, lack of requirement for heavy lifting and handling equipment,and corrosion resistance made FRP composites advantageous in repair,retrofitting and rehabilitation of civil engineering structures.The mam objective of this thesis is to give better and fullunderstanding of the shear behaviour ofT-beams strengthened with CarbonFiber Reinforced Plastics ( CFRP ) sheets, laminates and rods.The experimental program involves testing fifteen reinforced concretebeams with T-cross section to study their shear behaviour. Two beams werekept without strengthening as a control beams and the thirteen T-beamsdivided into three main groups with two beams strengthened with steelplates. The most important studied variables were types of CFRP ( sheets,laminates and rods ), fib er orientation, and the location of CFRP while