SHEAR STRENGTH PREDICTION OF RC BEAMS WRAPPED WITH FRP

During past decades, substantial studies on the external bonding of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) strips to deficient reinforced concrete (RC) beams have been carried out for the well-known superior properties of the FRP. Several shear prediction models have been established by using the effective strain of the FRP or introducing an ultimate stress discount coefficient. And the latest design concept is the use of stress distribution factor. In this paper, an equivalent effective strain model of the FRP is presented, which contains the concepts of maximum strain, stress distribution factor and critical shear crack angle influences. To develop a simple and accurate approach for such equivalent effective strain, major influenced factors are investigated and analyzed by the statistical independent hypothetic tests on a database of 128 RC beams wrapped by the FRP. Finally, a simple and rational shear design proposal is given, which is more accurate than the existing models using the above database.