Structural Behavior of RC Slabs with Opening Strengthened by FRP

Reinforced Concrete (RC) slabs are one of the most widely occurring structural member; openings in RC slabs are created due to structural and/or functional requirements for example installing heating or ventilation ducts or even installing elevators and escalators. But these requirements are always accompanied with deterioration of the slabs because of lessening the steel reinforcement and concrete area. Thus, the RC slabs needs to be strengthened. Traditional methods for strengthening slabs with opening such as adding extra supports or even bolted steel plates can be expensive and ponderous. So, such the traditional methods can be replaced with a light weight, high strength and durable Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRP). In recent years, a numerous endeavor experimentally or numerically are exerted to give a better understanding of the behavior of RC slabs with opening with/without strengthening. They tried to explain the stress concentrations around the openings, damage evolution and the deflection before and after strengthening, throughout different parameters. This thesis is concerned with studying the behavior of RC slabs with opening with and without strengthening by FRP.