The 11th Arab Structural Engineering Conference, 25-27 October 2009, KFUPM, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

One Dimensional, Nonlinear Beam Element for the Analysis

of RC Beams with CFRP Plate Strengthening
Abdulsalam I. M. Al-Janabi and Rahma F. Hasoon
Department of Civil Engineering
Altahadi University, Sirt – Libya

ABSTRACT: In this work, a one dimensional beam finite element model is developed for the analysis of RC beams
strengthened with CFRP plates in tension. The proposed model is based on partial interaction between the reinforced
concrete beam and the CFRP plate, allowing slip to occur. By using a layered approach for the beam section and
including the nonlinear material behavior for concrete, reinforcing steel, CFRP plate and the bonding layer between
concrete and CFRP plate, the proposed method of analysis is capable of predicting the response of the beams through
pre-cracking, post-cracking and ultimate load stages. A computer program is developed to implement the proposed
method of analysis and numerical studies are presented to demonstrate the validity and applicability of the method.
These case studies reflect the efficiency of the proposed one dimensional model when compared to experimental or
three dimensional finite element models.

KEY WORDS: beam finite element, CFRP plate strengthening, nonlinear analysis, RC beams.

INTRODUCTION
stress

Repair and strengthening of various RC members using

FRP materials is becoming more and more popular in
structural retrofitting field. CFRP plates are now fc'
Ultimate compressive strength
identified as an effective way to enhance strength and Ec
ductility of RC members, due to its superior properties.
Extensive experimental works on different RC members
strengthened with CFRP plates were carried out (Meier, Softening
1995; Shahawy et al., 1996; Nguyen et al., 2001; Kim
and Aboutaha, 2004a). These works showed that the
proper use of CFRP plates increases stiffness, ductility
Strain at maximum stress
and load-carrying capacity of the strengthened members. strain
However, research is still required for full understanding
of the problem. Recently, many attempts have been made Fig. 1. Stress-Strain curve for concrete in compression
to use three dimensional finite element (FE) modeling
using various softwares; such as DIANA, ABAQUS and n ⎛⎜ ε ⎞
⎟
ANSYS (Buyle-Bodin et al., 2002; Hu et al., 2004; Kim f c
= ⎝ ε0 ⎠ (1)
f c′ ( )
nk
and Aboutaha, 2004b; Al-Janabi et al., 2008). The main n −1+ ε
aim of the present study is to develop a general one ε 0

dimensional beam finite element model for the analysis where,

of RC beams with CFRP plate strengthening in tension. f' ⎛ n ⎞
The partial interaction theory between the RC beam and ε0 = c ⎜ ⎟ (2)
CFRP plate is used for that purpose. The general
Ec ⎝ n −1⎠
nonlinear constitutive relationships for the beam Ec = 4700 f c' (3)
materials are adopted. This model is expected to be
simple numerical tool for studying RC beams
n is a curve fitting factor given by:
strengthened with CFRP plates in tension.
f c′ (4)
n = 0.8 +
17.24
MATERIAL CONSTITUTIVE RELATIONSHIPS
For normal weight concrete k is a factor that controls the
For concrete, the following relationship given by slopes of the ascending and descending branches of the
Thorenfeldt et al. (Macgregor, 2005) is used to describe stress-strain curve:
the relationship between stress in concrete fc and strain in
when ε (5)
concrete ε under uni-axial compression (see Figure 1). k =1 ≤1
Where f 'c = concrete cylinder compressive strength; εo = ε0
concrete strain corresponding to stress f 'c and it is given ⎛ f ′ ⎞
k = 0.67 + ⎜ c ⎟ when ε
by: ⎝ 62.1 ⎠
>1 (6)
ε0
The 11th Arab Structural Engineering Conference, 25-27 October 2009, KFUPM, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
It should be noted that Eq.1 gives very low value of
stress when the strain in increased after the peak stress
and hence it indirectly reflects the crushing failure of
concrete in compression and thus with the use of Eq. 1 it
is not required to give limiting crushing strain for
concrete in compression. For concrete in axial tension
the stress-strain response can be divided into two phases.
Prior to the maximum stress in tension, the stress- strain
relationship is slightly curved. This rising part of the
stress-strain curve may be approximated as a straight line
with slope Ec and a maximum stress equal to the tensile
strength ft. given by (Macgregor, 2005):
f t = 0.62 f c'
When the concrete tensile strength is reached, the tensile
capacity of concrete drops rapidly in unreinforced
concrete, however for reinforced concrete, tension
stiffening occurs because of load transfer mechanism that
exists between reinforcement (steel bars) and
surrounding concrete and is generally represented by
gradual degradation in concrete tensile strength of the
crack. Tension stiffing due to steel bar reinforcement is
assumed to decrease linearly from (70%) of ft at the
cracking stain εcr to zero at five times concrete cracking
strain (El-Tawil, 2001). This model is shown in Figure 2
and it is used in the present work.
Fig. 2. Stress-strain curve for concrete in tension
The two chief numerical characteristics which determine
the character of steel reinforcement are its yield point fy
(generally identical in tension and compression) and its
modulus of elasticity Es. Figure 3 shows the stress-strain
relationship used to model reinforcing steel.
Compression
Fig. 3. Stress-strain curve for steel reinforcement
In the present work, the main concern is to study the
behavior of RC beams strengthened with CFRP plate in
tension. Hence the CFRP plate will be mainly under uni-
axial tension. All FRP plates (including CFRP plates)
have similar stress-strain behavior: linear elastic up to
final brittle rupture when subjected to tension. In the
present study the stress-strain response of CFRP plate is
assumed to be elastic-perfectly brittle as shown in
Figure 4.
stress
fmax
ECFRP
(7) strain
max
Fig. 4. Stress-strain curve for CFRP plates under tension
CFRP plates are attached to concrete by using special
adhesive materials (Epoxy resins). Thin layers of these
materials are usually applied before attaching the CFRP
plates. The bond-slip behavior of the system
connecting CFRP plate to concrete beam will depend on
properties of the adhesive material, concrete and CFRP
plate. Various models have been investigated and
proposed to simulate the bond-slip behavior between
concrete and CFRP plate (Guo et al., 2005; Lu et. al.,
2005). The model proposed by Guo (2005) shown in
Figure 5 will be used in the present work.
Fig. 5. Bond stress-slip curve between concrete and
CFRP plate
The following equation is suggested by Guo (2005) to
model the bond stress – slip:
τ ⎛ s ⎞ n
=⎜ ⎟ (8)
τ max ⎜⎝ smax ⎟⎠ ⎛ s ⎞
n
n − 1 + ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
⎝ smax ⎠
where τ is the bond stress (MPa), τ max = 0.7512 f cu0.5 is
the ultimate bond stress; f cu is the concrete cube
compressive strength, computed from the f c' = 0.8 f cu
(Neville, 2003); s is the local slip mm: smax is the slip
corresponding to ultimate bond stress; n is a constant
coefficient. The values of smax and n can be calculated by
the least square method using experimental results. The
value of n = 2.018 and the value of smax =0.046mm are
used in the present study as given by Guo et al. (2005).
The 11th Arab Structural Engineering Conference, 25-27 October 2009, KFUPM, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

PARTIAL INTERACTION THEORY FOR RC corresponding non-zero strains are:-

BEAM WITH CFRP PLATE STRENGTHENING
⎛ du ⎞ ⎛
d w ⎟ 2 ⎞ ⎛ 2 ⎞
ε f = ⎜⎜
of
⎟ − z⎜ ⎜d w ⎟
⎟ ⎜ dx 2 ⎟ = ε of − z ⎜ dx 2 ⎟
(12)
In partial interaction theory for RC beams with CFRP ⎝ dx ⎠ ⎝ ⎠ ⎝ ⎠
plate strengthening in tension, the bond layer connecting ⎛ d 2w ⎞ ⎛ d 2w ⎞
⎛ du oc ⎞ (13)
the CFRP plate to concrete is assumed to be flexible such εc = ⎜ ⎟ − z ⎜⎜ 2 ⎟⎟ = ε oc − z ⎜⎜ 2 ⎟⎟
that a strain difference between the two connected ⎝ dx ⎠ ⎝ dx ⎠ ⎝ dx ⎠
materials (CFRP and concrete) will result.
⎛ du oc ⎞ ⎛ d 2w ⎞ ⎛ d 2w ⎞ (14)
ε rs = ⎜ ⎟ − d ⎜⎜ ⎟
2 ⎟
= ε oc − d ⎜⎜ ⎟
2 ⎟
Basic Assumptions ⎝ dx ⎠ ⎝ dx ⎠ ⎝ dx ⎠
εo refers to axial strain in the material in question. The
The basic assumptions used for partial interaction
shear strain in bonding layer is indirectly given as the
analysis in the present work are as follows:
displacement (defined as slip) between the bottom
(a) The Euler-Bernoulli assumption of plane sections
surface of concrete beam and the top surface of CFRP
normal to the middle surface before bending remains
plate in the longitudinal direction i.e. it is defined as the
plane and normal after bending applies. This
difference between uc at the bottom of the concrete
assumption means that deformations due to shear
section and uf at the top of the CFRP plate.
strains are not considered in the present study. Thus
the finite element model proposed should be used
when the shear effects (strains and stresses) are s = [uc ]z =− hc − u f[ ]z =+ h f
(15)
small or negligible and can only be used when 2 2
strains and stresses are mainly due to bending. Using Eqs. 9 and 10,
(b) Deformations of beams are small such that ⎛ dw ⎞ (16)
s = u oc − u of + e ⎜ ⎟
nonlinearity due to geometry is negligible. Loading ⎝ dx ⎠
on the beams monolithically increases up to ultimate
or failure and there is no load reversal. ⎛ hc + h f ⎞
(c) The bonding layer connecting the RC beam with the where e = ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
⎝ 2 ⎠
CFRP plate has a negligible thickness and an infinite
vertical stiffness. This layer exhibits shearing strain hf and hc are the depths of the CFRP plate and concrete
only leading to a relative strain difference as slip. sections, respectively. From the previous discussion it
However both materials will have the same slope can be noticed that three independent displacement
and vertical deflection. Perfect bond between functions (uof, uoc, and w) are needed to define
concrete and steel reinforcement is assumed. completely the displacement field in the problem. The
(d) Only longitudinal normal strains and slip are taken stresses in the longitudinal direction can be obtained
into account. All other strains are disregarded. using the corresponding constitutive relationships or in
(e) The constitutive relations of the constituent general:
materials: concrete, steel reinforcement, CFRP plate
and bonding layer, may have their general nonlinear σ f = f f (ε f ) (17)
form as discussed above.
σ c = f c (ε c ) (18)
Kinematics Analysis
σ rs = f rs (ε rs ) (19)
Figure 6 shows a rectangular RC beam section q = f slip (s ) (20)
strengthened with rectangular CFRP at the bottom.
According to the figure, horizontal displacements in each
of the constituent materials can be expressed as follows: FINITE ELEMENT DISCRETIZATION

⎛ dw ⎞ (9)
u f = u of − z ⎜ ⎟ In applying the finite element method, the structure is
⎝ dx ⎠ discretized into a number of finite elements. The
⎛ dw ⎞ (10) displacement field within each element is then
u c = u oc − z ⎜ ⎟
⎝ dx ⎠ represented in terms of the displacements at the nodes
⎛ dw ⎞ (11) and the problem is reduced from an infinite to finite
u rs = uoc − d ⎜ ⎟
⎝ dx ⎠ number of degrees of freedom. The displacement field
{ }
φ( x ) of the problem is thus given by:
, where (dw/dx) is the slope of the deflection curve, uof
and uoc are axial displacements in the CFRP plate and ⎧u of ( x ) ⎫
concrete sections respectively, z and z are the distance
from the center of concrete and CFRP sections { } ⎪ ⎪
φ ( x ) = ⎨u oc ( x ) ⎬ (21)
respectively and d is the distance from the center of ⎪w ⎪
concrete section to the reinforcement layer. The ⎩ (x ) ⎭
The 11th Arab Structural Engineering Conference, 25-27 October 2009, KFUPM, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

A dw
dx

s
A'

SECTION A-A w
uoc
bc Reinforcing Steel
w
A
hc /2 d
z A
h c /2 Concrete Section
h f /2 bond layer _
z A'
h f /2 x
CFRP plate A
u of

Fig. 6. Horizontal displacements in the concrete and CFRP plate

⎧u f 1 ⎫ ⎧ Ff 1 ⎫
From Eqs. 9 to 14 it can be concluded that Co continuity ⎪u ⎪ ⎪F ⎪
shape functions (linear) and C1 continuity shape ⎪ c1 ⎪ ⎪ c1 ⎪
functions (Hermite polynomials) are required for ⎪ w1 ⎪ ⎪ V1 ⎪
representing the axial displacements and vertical ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪
θ ⎪M ⎪
deflections respectively (Stasa, 1985): {δ } = ⎪⎨ 1 ⎪⎬ , {F } = ⎨ 1 ⎬ (23)
⎧u f 1 ⎫ ⎪u f 2 ⎪ ⎪F f 2 ⎪
⎪ ⎪ ⎪ uc 2 ⎪ ⎪ Fc 2 ⎪
⎪uc1 ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪ ⎪
⎪w ⎪ ⎪ w2 ⎪ ⎪ V2 ⎪
⎧uof (x) ⎫ ⎡N1 0 0 0 N2 0 0 0 ⎤⎪ ⎪
1
⎪θ ⎪ ⎪M ⎪
⎪⎪ ⎪⎪ ⎪θ1 ⎪ (22) ⎩ 2 ⎭ ⎩ 2⎭
{ }
φ(x) = ⎨uoc(x) ⎬ = ⎢⎢ 0 N1 0 0 0 N2 0 0 ⎥⎥⎨ ⎬
u
⎪ ⎪ ⎢0 0 N N 0 0 N5 N6 ⎥⎦⎪ f 2 ⎪
⎩⎪w(x) ⎭⎪ ⎣ 3 4 ⎪u ⎪ Derivation of Equilibrium Equations
⎪ c2 ⎪
⎪w2 ⎪ Using the principle of virtual work (Stasa, 1985)
⎪ ⎪
⎩θ2 ⎭
where, [R]{δ }T = ∫V (ε )T {σ }dv
2 3 (24)
x, x , N 3 = 1 − 3x + 2 x
N1 = 1 −
L
N2 =
L
2
L3
L [R ] = ∫V [B]T {σ }dv
2x2 x3 , 3x 2 2x3 , − x2 x3
N4 = x − + 2 N5 = − N6 = + 2 where the stress vector is given by,
L L L2 L3 L L
Thus four degrees of freedom are needed at each node in
the finite element discretization. The nodal
{σ } = {σ f σ c q σ rs }
T
(25)
displacements and the corresponding nodal forces at the
element nodes (as shown in Figure 7) will be: and the virtual strains vector {ε}

{ε } = [B ]{δ } (26)

In which [B] is the strain-displacement matrix. {R}

represents the internal forces which are required to hold
the structure in equilibrium. These loads are evaluated
numerically using three Gaussian quadrate points along
the length of the element combined with layer integration
and an incremental-iterative procedure is needed to solve
the problem. The Newton-Raphson’s method with load
Fig. 7. Nodal displacements and nodal forces for beam
increments is used for that purpose. Details of the
element with CFRP plate strengthening
The 11th Arab Structural Engineering Conference, 25-27 October 2009, KFUPM, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

solution algorithm are discussed elsewhere (Owen and
Hinton, 1980; Hasoon, 2009). For the solution process it
is required to compute the tangent stiffness matrix and
the cross section properties of the beam.
Derivation of Tangent Stiffness Matrix
To simplify the iterative solution procedure, the tangent
stiffness matrix is evaluated at the centre of the element,
hence DT will be constant for whole beam during a single
iteration and the tangent stiffness matrix for the
composite beam (R.C. beam with CFRP plates) will be,
[K ] = ∫ [B] [D ][B]dV
T
V
T
T (27)
= stiffness matrices due to the contribution of the
materials of the beam element: (CFRP plate,
concrete, reinforcing steel and bonding layer
respectively (Hasoon, 2009).
[ ] + [K ] + [K ] + [K ]
= Ke f
e
c
e
rs
e
bl
Cross-section Properties
To compute cross section properties using the layered
approach, each section (CFRP or concrete) is divided
into a series of layers (Figure 8) not necessarily equal in
width and depth, and the required axial and flexural
stiffness for each material can be computed by numerical
integration as follows:
Developed Computer Program
Based on the formulation presented in this work, a
FORTRAN computer program is developed for the
analysis of RC beam with CFRP plate strengthening.
Convergence of the F.E. Results
To demonstrate the convergence characteristics of the
proposed finite element model, the RC beam with CFRP
plate strengthening shown in Figure 9 was analyzed
using different no. of elements for the whole length of
the beam. The dimensions, material properties and type
of loading are as shown in Figure 9 and Table 1. It
should be noted that in the present convergence test and
the following case studies modeling of the shear
reinforcements is not required since the shear effects are
ignored. Table 2 shows the results of mid span
deflections at approximately 1/4 of ultimate load
(P=35kN) and the results of ultimate load, for no. of
elements 6, 16, 18, 21, 24, 30, 36, 42 and 50. Table 2
shows that the results converge and there is very slight
change in the results when more than 18 elements are
used. The results of this convergence test and other tests
(Hasoon, 2009) showed that using about 20 elements for
the whole beam length is quite enough to obtain
converged results with reasonable accuracy.
C.L.
P
250mm 3000mm
P
2000mm 3000mm 250mm

CFRP plate Length = 7500mm

Ln = 8000mm
600 mm

As'
As

bf
300 mm

Fig. 9. Geometry and reinforcements of RC

beam in convergence study

Table 1. Properties of steel, concrete and CFRP

Fig. 8. Layered beam section for RC beam in convergence study
nb Area of tensile steel As, (mm2) 402
EA = ∫ EdA = ∑ Ei Ai (28) Area of compression steel As', (mm2) 226
A
i =1 Yield stress of steel, fy (MPa) 410
nb 28-Day cylinder compressive strength of
30
EI = ∫ Ez 2 dA = ∑ Ei z 2 i Ai (29) concrete, fc' (MPa)
A
i =1 Tensile strength of CFRP plate, ft (MPa) 3050
Where nb is the number of layers in the material in Modulus elasticity of CFRP plate (MPa) 165000
question, Ei is the tangent modulus of elasticity of the
CFRP plate Thickness tf, mm 1.2
layer which is obtained from the corresponding
constitutive relationship for the material, zi is the distance
from the layer center to the mid surface of the section Finally, the developed program was used in various case
and A is the cross-sectional area of the layer. studies (Hasoon, 2009). These case studies showed good
The 11th Arab Structural Engineering Conference, 25-27 October 2009, KFUPM, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

agreement with previous experimental or numerical Table 3. Properties of steel, concrete and CFRP for
results and the applicability of the proposed model as beam B2 in case study I
simple analysis tool. Two of these case studies are Area of tensile steel As, (mm2) 570
discussed in the following sections.
Area of compression steel As', (mm2) 226
Table 2. Results of RC beam in convergence Yield stress of steel, fy (MPa) 448
case study
28-Day cylinder compressive strength of
No. of Mid span Deflection 36.21
Pult (kN) concrete, fc' (MPa)
Elements at P=35(kN) Tensile strength of CFRP plate (MPa) 3792
6 11.426 139.6
16 11.350 140.1 Tensile modulus of CFRP plate (MPa) 230293
18 11.562 140.1
21 11.644 140.2
24 11.645 141.2
30 11.645 141.3
36 11.645 141.3
42 11.648 141.3
50 11.648 141.3
Fig. 11. FE modeling of the beam in case study I

CASE STUDY I
Kim and Aboutaha (2004a) tested rectangular and tee
sections RC beams with various strengthening
arrangements. The rectangular beam B2 with CFRP plate
strengthening was selected to be analyzed using the
present study FE model. The loading system consisted of
one point load as shown in Figure 10. The length of the
CFRP plate was 2692mm with 254mm width and
0.168mm thickness.
Results
The results of the load-deflection for beam B2 are shown
in Figure 12. It shows that the one dimensional FE model
of the present study compares very well with the
experimental results of Kim and Aboutaha (2004a). The
behavior of the beam during the pre-cracking, post-
cracking and ultimate stages is accurately reflected in the
current analysis results.

Geometry and Reinforcement Details of Beam 250

The width and the height of the beam was 304.8 mm and
200
406.4 mm, respectively. The total length of the beam was
3353.2 mm, with supports located at 228.6 mm from
each end allowing a simply supported span of 2896.0 150
Load(kN)

Kim (2004a)
mm, as shown in Figure 10. Table 3 shows the material
properties for the beam. 100
P.S.(F.E.)

C.L.

228.6mm 50
228.6mm P

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
CFRP plate
Lf = 2.692 Midspan-Deflection (mm)
Midspan-Deflaction(mm)
Ln = 2.896 m

Fig. 12. Load-deflection curve for the beam B2 in case

study I
406.4 mm

As'
As
CASE STUDY II
bf
304.8 mm This case presents the applicability of the developed
Fig. 10. Geometry and reinforcements of beams in model to perform parametric studies. It is performed to
case study I investigate the effect of the CFRP plate length on the
structural behavior of full-scale strengthened RC beams.
FE Modeling of the Beam
Dimensions and Properties of the Investigated Beams
In modeling process, half of the beam is considered. The
A group of full scale RC beams with and without CFRP
FE discretization is shown in Figure 11, where 32
strengthening plates are simulated and analyzed using the
elements are used to model the half of the beam.
The 11th Arab Structural Engineering Conference, 25-27 October 2009, KFUPM, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

FE software developed in the present work. The width Table 5 Details of beams analyzed for
and the height of the beams are 250 mm and 500 mm, parametric case study II
respectively. The total length of each beam is 6000 mm,
with supports located at 200 mm from ends, allowing a CFRP plate
simply supported span of 5600 mm, as shown in Figure Length
13. A concrete cover of 40 mm is used in all directions. Beam Width Thicknes
Length factor
Table 4 shows the material properties for these beams. bf s of layer
(mm) α=Lf/L
Table 5 shows the details of the beams investigated in (mm) (mm)
n
this case study. The beams were designed to investigate BC1
the effect of CFRP length on the performance of - - - -
Control
strengthened beams with concrete strength of 30 MPa. BS4 1400 250 1.2 0.5
Five different CFRP plates lengths; 1400 to 2520 mm
with a corresponding length factor; 0.5 to 0.9 were BS5 1680 250 1.2 0.6
studied. BS6 1960 250 1.2 0.7
BS7 2240 250 1.2 0.8
200 mm 2000 mm 800 mm 800 mm 2000 mm 200 mm BS8 2520 250 1.2 0.9
P P
C.L.

using only half of the beam for modeling. The

CFRP plate Lf investigated beams were beams strengthened with
Ln
varying length of CFRP plates, besides a control beam
(without CFRP). Meshing was similar for all the beams,
As'
where a total no. of (32) elements was used for half of
500mm

the full beam length.

As
bf Effect of Length of CFRP Plate
250 mm

Fig. 13. Geometry and reinforcements of beams
in case study II
Table 4. Properties of steel, concrete and CFRP
for case study II
Area of tensile steel As, (mm2)
Area of compression steel As', (mm2)
Yield Stress of Reinforcing Steel, fy
(MPa)
28-Day cylinder Compressive
Strength of concrete, f 'c (MPa)
Tensile strength of CFRP plate, ft
(MPa)
Modulus elasticity of CFRP plate
165000
(MPa)
FE Modeling of the Beams
Figure 14 shows a typical FE model used in the present
case study. The symmetric aspects of the problem permit
Fig. 14. FE modeling of the beams in case study II
In order to trace the general effect of this parameter,
load-deflection results for the strengthened beams
besides the control beam, BC1 are plotted as shown in
Figure 15. All beams showed identical behavior before
cracking, while after cracking the beams with CFRP
plate had more stiffness than the control beam, as
600 expected. The beams with CFRP plate had similar post-
cracking behavior up to a load of approximately 152 kN.
226
Beyond this load, all beams showed continuous decrease
413 in stiffness up to failure load. Furthermore, beams with
higher CFRP plate length showed noticeable increase in
30 deflections and ultimate loads, which reflects the
appreciable improvement in ductility and load carrying
3050 capacity of the strengthened beams. However, BS7 with
α=0.8 and BS6 with α=0.9 showed very similar behavior
up to failure. Then, results of ultimate load- length factor
α are depicted in Figure 16, to trace the specific effect of
CFRP plate length factor α on the ultimate load value,
where α is the ratio between length of CFRP plate and
clear span of beam. As can be noticed in this figure,
increasing α from 0.50 to 0.80 led to a significant
increase in the ultimate load, from 152 kN to 312 kN.
However, when α is increased from 0.8 to 0 .9, the
ultimate load increased very slightly. To further
investigate the effect of CFRP plate length, Figure 17
shows the stress variation in the CFRP plates within their
lengths, for different values of α at ultimate loads. As
shown, the stresses in the CFRP plates are of maximum
value at the middle of beam and decreased to a very
small value at the end of the CFRP plate. For short CFRP
plate (α = 0.5 - 0.6), the stresses developed in the CFRP
plate are small. This can be attributed to the short
development length of the CFRP plate. On the other
The 11th Arab Structural Engineering Conference, 25-27 October 2009, KFUPM, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

hand, when α is increased from 0.6 to 0.8, the maximum 1.8

stresses in the CFRP have increased. Finally when the a = .5
value of α is increased from 0.8 to 0.9, the maximum 1.6

Stress in CFRP plate(kN/m m )

a = .6

2
stresses in the CFRP showed no increase. This is also 1.4
a = .7
noticed for the ultimate load from Figure 16. This means 1.2
that the maximum benefit from CFRP plate development a = .8

length is achieved at α = 0.8. Based on the results shown a = .9 1

in Figures 15 and 16, it can be concluded that the 0.8

increase of the attachment length of the CFRP plate
0.6
increases the stiffness, ductility and ultimate load of the
strengthened RC beam. This increase varied between 0.4

about 50% for α = 0.5 to about 150% for α≥0.8. Since 0.2
there is no increase in ultimate load for α ≥0.8, then the
optimum or economical CFRP length factor is 0.8. 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0
0

Extending the CFRP length factor beyond this value has Distance from mid-span(mm)
no any beneficial effect. This conclusion is limited for
this case study.
Fig. 17. Stress variation at ultimate load in CFRP plate
for various plate lengths.
350

300

250 CONCLUSIONS
L o ad (kN)

200 BS4 In the present work, a one dimensional beam finite

BS5 element is proposed for the analysis of RC beams with
150
BS6 CFRP plate strengthening. The formulation is based on
100 BS7 partial interaction theory and general nonlinear behavior
BS8
of the materials. Selected case studies investigated to
50 demonstrate efficiency and applicability of the model.
BC1
0 From the results, the following conclusions can be
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 drawn:-
Midspan-Deflection(mm)
1) Based on the kinematics assumptions of partial
interaction for a beam with CFRP plate strengthening in
Fig. 15. Load-deflection plots for beams in case study II tension, a displacement based finite element
beam model can be developed. The resulting element
will have more degrees of freedom than conventional
320 beam element.
300
280 2) Using the layered approach and the incremental
Ultimate load(kN)

260 iterative solution procedure, the proposed nonlinear finite

240 element model can incorporate any realistic
220 relationship for beam materials. The proposed finite
200
element model represents an effective modeling tool for
180
the analysis of reinforced concrete beams with CFRP
plate strengthening.
160
140
3) The results showed that the proposed one dimensional
120 finite element model is capable of generating load-
0.4 0.5 0.6
a
0.7 0.8 0.9 1
deflection response that agrees well with experimental
results in the elastic pre-cracking, elastic-post cracking
Fig. 16. Effect of CFRP plate length factor a on ultimate and in the near failure stage of the beam.
load for beam in case study II
The 11th Arab Structural Engineering Conference, 25-27 October 2009, KFUPM, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
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