Anchoring of shear strengthening for T-beams made of textile reinforced concrete (TRC)

Test results indicate that thin layers of concrete utilizing textile reinforcement can be used as shear strengthening for Reinforced Concrete (RC)-T-beams thereby increasing the shear capacity of these particular types of beams. Serviceability properties are also improved; in particular, the amount of deflection is reduced, as well as crack widths. This article provides a comprehensive discussion of the detail of force transfer from the textile reinforced strengthening layer to the existing concrete of RC-members, as well as the characteristics of the individual failure levels. In addition, the effects from adhesive tensile bond and shear bond are described in detail, and the interrelationship between the transferable bond force and the associated bond length is shown. The load carrying capacity of the bond represents a critical load for highly reinforced strengthening layers. Furthermore, this article shows how, in these particular cases, the effects of strengthening can be further increased by the application of additional mechanical anchoring in the pressure zone.