Monotonic & Fatigue Flexural Behaviour

The use of near surface mounted (NSM) carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) reinforcement is a recent and a promising technique for increasing the flexural capacity and the fatigue life of reinforced concrete (RC) flexural members. Prestressing the NSM CFRP rod may be utilized for a further enhancement in the monotonic and fatigue flexural response of RC beams. The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of strengthening RC beams with nonprestressed and prestressed CFRP rods to increase the monotonic and fatigue flexural strength of the beams. Twenty-two RC beams were fabricated. Five beams were not strengthened and acted as control to simulate an existing structural member. The other beams were divided into groups that were strengthened with non-prestressed CFRP rod (0% prestressed), and prestressed CFRP rod (40%, or 60% prestressed of the CFRP rod tensile strength). A beam from each group was tested under monotonic load and acted as a reference beam for those tested under cyclic loads.