Case Studies in Construction Materials 15 (2021) e00601

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Case Studies in Construction Materials

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Case study

Flexural strengthening of reinforced concrete beams through

externally bonded FRP sheets and near surface mounted FRP bars
Minoo Panahi a, *, Seyed Alireza Zareei a, Ardavan Izadi b
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Regarding the high interfacial shear stresses at end-plate, and end-plate cover separation in
Externally bonded externally bonded methods, bar end-interfacial debonding and bar-end cover separation in near-
Flexural strengthening surface mounted technique, a hybrid strengthening method called combined externally bonded
FRP composites
near-surface method was proposed. In this method, the externally bonded and near-surface
Near-surface mounted
mounted techniques complement each other and mutually overcome their limitations. The pur­
Reinforced concrete beam
pose of this study is to numerically investigate the flexural strengthening efficiency of reinforced
concrete beams with combined externally bonded FRP sheets and near-surface mounted FRP rods.
The numerical analyses were conducted with finite element software ABAQUS 6.11, which can
accurately simulate the experimental investigations on the flexural behavior of reinforced con­
crete beams strengthened with FRP composites. Validation of finite element simulation was
confirmed first by making a comparison with the experimental study presented in the literature
for both un-strengthened and strengthened beams with FRP materials. The verified model of the
un-strengthened beam, which serves as a control beam, was used to simulate reinforced concrete
beam strengthened with externally bonded FRP sheets and combined externally bonded near-
surface mounted technique. The numerical results of mid-span bending moment deflection, ul­
timate bending moment, failure deflection, and ductility index were reported. Based on the results
of this study, it is concluded that the developed finite element models for the externally bonded,
near-surface mounted, and combined externally bonded near-surface techniques can be used by
structural engineers as an alternative solution in design-oriented parametric studies of
strengthened reinforced concrete elements. The performance of the combined externally bonded
near-surface mounted technique was confirmed by making the comparison between the results of
the intended method with other strengthening techniques.

1. Introduction

The urgent demand for strengthening existing structures and infrastructures owing to either a change in use or poor performance of
structures made intense pressure on the agility and responsiveness of civil engineers. Deterioration and aging of structural materials,
bar corrosion, and physical damages, as well as changes in required load-carrying capacity are not the only reason for strengthening
reinforced concrete elements [1–3]. Other reasons for strengthening existing structures are committing imperfections and mistakes in

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M. Panahi), [email protected] (S.A. Zareei), [email protected] (A. Izadi).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscm.2021.e00601
Received 14 December 2020; Received in revised form 4 June 2021; Accepted 13 June 2021
Available online 16 June 2021
2214-5095/© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
M. Panahi et al. Case Studies in Construction Materials 15 (2021) e00601

design and construction, and exposure to unpredictable loads such as severe earthquake excitation, intense storms, shock loads, floods,
etc. Along with that most of the existing structures are designed by outdated standards and codes [1–3]. Consequently, they do not
meet the requirement of current design codes, and according to ASCE 2009, these structures are classified as structurally deficient [4].
Designers must identify innovative materials and construction techniques to address the problem of strengthening existing reinforced
concrete structures. All of these above-mentioned structural deficiency problems can be addressed using FRP composites.
The use of FRP material with remarkable characteristics such as the appropriate ratio of strength to weight, high resistance of
corrosion, and admirable degree of durability is one of the most impressive techniques to increase the ultimate sustainable load ca­
pacity of existing reinforced concrete structures [5]. FRP materials are superior to the old-fashion strengthening materials such as steel
sheets when it comes to comparing the cost-effective strengthening solutions, strength to weight ratio, corrosion resistance, ease of
installation and usage, durability performance, fatigue resistance, and availability in different shape and size [4,6–8]. Despite the fact
that strengthening structures with FRP materials has numerous advantages in comparison to the strengthening structures with steel
sheets, the lack of ductility and rapid softening at high temperatures are problematic [2,5].
Strengthening reinforced concrete structures with FRP is categorized into two major techniques, including externally bonded
reinforcement (EBR) and near-surface mounted reinforcement (NSM) which is shown in Fig. 1. In the externally bonded method (EBR),
one or multiple FRP laminates are bond on the tensile surface of concrete members for the aim of flexural strengthening or in the web of
the element for shear strengthening of concrete elements. Insertion of FRP rods or strips into pre-cut grooves placed on the tension side
of the elements, and filling the pre-cut grooves with a high-strength adhesive which is mainly epoxy resin are the major steps of
strengthening reinforced concrete elements with NSM technique [9–12].
In the EBR technique, the most critical modes of failures are the plate-end cover separation and plate-end interfacial debonding
particularly in the zones with high flexural and shear stresses [13–16]. The thickness of FRP laminates/textiles has a significant role
regarding this issue, and the reduction of this value decreases the stress concentration at the plate-end [17]. Moreover, for a constant
ratio of FRP, the debonding potential significantly increases with an increase in FRP thickness [18]. Although the NSM FRP has the
advantage of bond performance over the EBR technique, bond efficiency still plays a vital role in the design of strengthening concrete
members with NSM FRP [19,20]. Bond efficiency of strengthening reinforced concrete elements with NSM FRP is strongly dependent
on the bond performance of both bar-adhesive and adhesive-concrete interfaces. Bar-end interfacial debonding and separation of
bar-end cover are the two common failure modes of strengthening reinforced concrete elements with NSM FRP [16,21–26]. In
addition, the tensile strength of FRP materials is better exploited in the NSM scheme of strengthening reinforced concrete elements in
comparison to the EBR technique. Ease of implementation and reduction of site work installation, delimitation any imperfection
accommodates to the installation procedure, better aesthetics and protection against environmental conditions such as corrosion and
temperature, less exposed to accidental impact and unpredictable damages, mitigation the risk of premature debonding at the interface
of reinforcement and surrounding material, and deterioration of FRP materials are some of the most significant benefits of NSM FRP
over EBR technique [4,11,27–31].
For the last several decades following the mid-1990s in keeping pace with successful application of FRP composites as strength­
ening and retrofitting materials, innumerable studies concerning the most effective factors on the overall performance of strengthening
reinforced concrete structures with FRP materials, either for shear or flexural strengthening have been conducted via various methods
including analytical, numerical, and experimental methods [5,16,26,28,30–38].
Rizzo and De Lorenzis [26] conducted an experimentally study on the shear strengthening of reinforced concrete beams with EBR
and NSM systems. It can be deduced from the results of this study that the increase in ultimate shear load carrying capacity was about
16 % in the EBR system, while a higher range of 22 %–44 % increase in shear capacity was reported for the NSM system. Al-Mahmoud
et al. [32] investigated the efficiency of CFRP rods in the flexural strengthening of RC beams. Their experimental program included
applying the load capacity up to the failure, evaluation of the impacts of material properties and different configurations of

Fig. 1. Strengthening reinforced concrete beam with FRP materials.

a) Externally bonded reinforcement (EBR), b) Near-surface mounted reinforcement (NSM).

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strengthening material, and comparison between their findings and analytical solutions. They showed that their proposed analytical
models can preciously predict the load-deflection curves of experimental investigations. Bilotta et al. [27] reported the results of an
experimental study on the bond behavior of reinforced concrete members with EBR and NSM techniques. Their studies were conducted
with single shear tests, and the failure modes, debonding loads, and load-slip relationships were reported for EBR and NSM systems.
The findings of this study indicated that the application of NSM FRP was superior to EBR. According to experimental studies of Galati
and De Lorenzis [39] and Al-Mahmoud et al. [35], it can be concluded that the use of epoxy resin led to higher bond efficiency than
cement grout as an adhesive material. In experimental studies of Wu et al. [36], the performance of reinforced concrete beams
strengthened with FRP rods was investigated. Comparison between the results of strengthened reinforced concrete beams with control
beam showed that the ultimate load of beams strengthened with carbon fiber reinforced polymer was higher than the ultimate load of
beams strengthened with glass fiber reinforced polymer. Hawileh [28] Zhang and Teng [16] Panahi and Izadinia [5], presented finite
element numerical models of RC beams strengthened with FRP materials. The study of Hawileh [28] and Panahi and Izadinia [5]
consisted of numerical finite element analyses of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with NSM bars while Zhang and Teng [16]
numerically compared the EBR and NSM techniques. Their validated models with experimental results reported in the literature could
predict load-carrying capacity, load-deflection curves, slip bond behavior along the interfaces of FRP-adhesive and adhesive-concrete.
Regarding the high interfacial shear stresses at end-plate of externally bonded reinforced elements and end-plate cover separation
in this system which reduces the ultimate resistance of strengthened structures and bar end interfacial debonding and bar-end cover
separation in NSM system along with limitations in the usage of NSM in structures with narrow cross-sectional members (edge
clearance and clear space between two adjacent grooves), demand of additional shear and flexural capacities that sole contribution of
these techniques cannot attain, and many more limitations afore-mentioned about EBR and NSM techniques, a new hybrid
strengthening technique which was called combined externally bonded near-surface mounted was proposed (CEBNSM). In this
method, the EBR and NSM techniques complement each other and mutually overcome their limitations. Experimental studies of Lim
[40] Rasheed et al. [41] Lim [42] Rahman et al. [43] Kotynia and Cholostiakow [44] Darain et al. [45] are the only documented studies
reported in the literature for strengthening existing structures with CEBNSM technique. Lim [40,42] investigated flexural and shear
strengthening reinforced concrete beams and reported the most probable failure modes of RC beams. It can be concluded from the
results of his studies that the combination of EBR and NSM is an appropriate technique to sustain higher loadings and redistribute the
total stresses induced by them. He reported that the maximum increase of flexural resistance was about 350 % in comparison to the
control beam, while Darain et al. [45] reported a lower range of 71%–105% in comparison to that of the un-strengthed beam.
All of the above-mentioned studies partially covered the wide range of affecting parameters and variables in the performance of
strengthening reinforced concrete elements. Although innumerable studies were reported on the problem of strengthening and ret­
rofitting reinforced concrete elements with FRP composites, still further numerical, analytical, and experimental studies are needed to
deeply clarify the effects of different factors on the formation of different failure modes, slip-bond behavior, ultimate carrying capacity,
and load-deflection curves to develop more accurate guidelines. According to the growing acceptance of the application of FRP as
strengthening materials, a few numbers of codes (ACI 4402R-8 and HB 305–2008) are currently available for strengthening techniques.
Furthermore, the usage of these codes is often sophisticated and cumbersome, so it is of practical importance to comprehensively study
the usage of FRP composites.
In this study, numerical simulations were conducted to evaluate the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete beams strengthened
with FRP composites. Although some prestigious studies were reported on the problem of numerical finite element analysis of
strengthening reinforced concrete beams with FRP materials on both EBR and NSM techniques, there seem to be few if any published
evidence on the numerical modeling of the hybrid technique for flexural strengthening of reinforced concrete beams which is called
combined externally bonded FRP sheets and near-surface mounted FRP bar (CEBNSM) methods. For this purpose, the finite element
software ABAQUS 6.11 was used to model intended specimens. This study addressed two major concerns. The first was to validate the
numerical modeling of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with NSM FRP to the experimental results reported in the literature.
The second one was to add the EBR technique to the previous beams strengthened with NSM FRP. Indeed, the efficiency of the
combined EBR and NSM technique is investigated, and a parametric study was conducted to evaluate some of the most effective
factors. The results of this study are presented in the form of design aids and tabular which can be used to develop design guidelines.

Fig. 2. Longitude profile of reinforced concrete beam detail.

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2. Experimental set-up

Numerous prestigious experimental studies on flexural strengthening reinforced concrete beams were reported in the literature.
Nevertheless, some aspects are not well understood only with experimental tests. Furthermore, numerical methods such as finite
element analysis are not only powerful tools to deeply understand the proposed problem but also have the possibility to generate a
large amount of data through parametric analysis to formulate and extend numerical models and also present simple formulation for
practical use.
The numerical analysis of this study was based on the experimental research of Al-Mahmoud et al. [32] on the reinforced concrete
beam strengthened with NSM FRP bars. To validate the numerical simulations of flexural strengthening reinforced concrete beams
with FRP composites, a comparison was made between the results of the current study with those of Al-Mahmoud et al. [32]. In the
proposed study, the effects of NSM FRP rods on the ultimate flexural capacities and load-deflection curves of seven strengthened beams
with different geometrical and material properties were compared with a control beam which was un-strengthened. As seen in Fig. 2,
the total length of the beam was 3000 mm with the center to center length of 2800 mm. The cross-section views of the un-strengthened
and strengthened beams are illustrated in Fig. 3. The reinforced concrete beams had rectangular section dimensions of 280 × 150 mm,
2Φ12, and 2Φ6 in tension and compression zones, respectively. The specification of steel stirrups was Φ6@150 mm. Fig. 3 and Table 1
illustrate the details of un-strengthened and strengthened beams.
Five out of seven specimens were strengthened with 2Φ6 CFRP rods, as shown in Fig. 4.a, while two of them were strengthened with
1Φ12 CFRP rod, as shown in Fig. 4b. Al-Mahmoud et al. [32] considered four types of variables in mechanical properties of material
and configurations in specimens including, CFRP rod cross-section (2Φ6 versus 1Φ12), concrete strength (conventional (VC30) versus
high-strength (VC60) concrete), two filling materials (Resin and Mortar) and different FRP length. The compressive and tensile
strengths of adhesive and concrete were measured at 7 and 28 days, respectively.

3. Finite element modeling

3.1. Element description

This study aims to numerically investigate the effects of FRP composites as strengthening material on flexural behavior, and load-
deflection curves of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with FRP materials. For this purpose, three-dimensional finite element
models that can accurately simulate reinforced concrete beams strengthening with FRP materials, and predict the load-carrying ca­
pacity, as well as load-deflection curves of strengthened reinforced beams were developed using ABAQUS 6.11. The geometry of
specimens, the applied loadings, and boundary conditions of simulated models were the same in two perpendicular planes. Therefore,

Fig. 3. Cross-section of un-strengthened and strengthened beams a) 2Φ6 mm b) 1Φ12 mm.

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Table 1
Material properties of un-strengthened and strengthened beams [32].
Beam Concrete Compressive Tensile Strength Elasticity Running Length of Number of Adhesive
Specification strength Strength (MPa) (MPa) Modulus (GPa) CFRP (mm) CFRP rods

Control beam VC30 37.4 3.0 30.3 – – –

S-C 6 (VC30) VC30 37.5 3.4 28.4 3000 2Φ6 Epoxy
resin
S-C 6 (270-R) VC30 36.5 3.2 27.9 2700 2Φ6 Epoxy
resin
S-C 6 (210-R) VC30 36.7 3.2 28.1 2100 2Φ6 Epoxy
resin
S-C 6 (VC60) VC60 66.5 5.4 41.3 3000 2Φ6 Epoxy
resin
S-C 6 (270-M) VC30 38.1 3.3 27.5 3000 2Φ6 Mortar
S-C 12 (VC30) VC30 35.1 3.4 29.5 3000 1Φ12 Epoxy
resin
S-C 12 (VC60) VC60 67.2 5.6 40.5 3000 1Φ12 Epoxy
resin
Epoxy Resin – 83.0 29.5 4.94 – – –
Mortar – 74.6 6.2 31.4 – – –

Fig. 4. Schematic model of reinforced concrete beams with its finite element mesh discretization, applied load, and boundary conditions.

one-quarter of the prototypes were modeled as seen in Fig. 4. A tremendous reduction in computational times and efforts makes it more
favorable to model only one-quarter of reinforced concrete beams. To simulate solid materials including the concrete, and adhesive,
three-dimensional eight nodes brick elements which were denoted by C3D8R were used. The C3D8R elements can simulate cracks in
tension and compression zones. By application of C3D8R elements, the damage evolution and element removal of SDGE (scalar
stiffness degradation) can be used to simulate cracks. Indeed, this parameter is a stiffness degradation index which is varied between
0 to maximum degradation value. The SDGE index shows the stiffness reduction induced by cracks. The nominal maximum degra­
dation value is assumed to be 1 (the real value of SDGE ≈0.99). The progressive damage evolution and element removal (SDGE) of each
element were calculated during the analyses and if this value reaches the maximum degradation, no further damage is accumulated.
Elements with this condition are deleted from the mesh domain and removal of the mesh discretization simulates the cracks. Fig. 5
demonstrates the one-quarter of the beam modeled with three-dimensional eight nodes brick elements in ABAQUS.
To simulate structural bars, both beam elements, and truss elements can be used. In this study, truss elements with three-
dimensional mesh discretization (T3D2) were used to model structural bars including steel bars and FRP rods. Three translational
degrees of freedom at each node were defined for uniaxial compression-tension truss elements. Zhang and Teng [16] showed negligible
differences were observed between the results of load-deflection curves for different selected element sizes, i.e. the finite element

Fig. 5. One-quarter of the beam modeled with three-dimensional eight nodes brick elements.

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results are not sensitive to the element size within the domain. This observation arises from the fact that the concrete fracture energy
was taken into account while the tensile behavior and the shear behavior of cracked concrete were modeled based on the relationship
between shear stresses and crack slips as well as crack widths but not the relationship between shear stresses and crack strains. Hence,
the automatic mesh discretization technique was used for different types of elements including C3d8R and T3D2. As the structural bars
and FRP rods were fully embedded in their surrounding materials, the degrees of freedom of steel bars and FRP rods should be
dependent on the degrees of freedom of the concrete and adhesive, respectively. For this purpose, the embedded region shown in Fig. 6
was used in ABAQUS 6.11. Development of shear stresses and slippage between the interfaces of FRP-adhesive (both FRP rods and FRP
sheets) and steel bars-concrete should be defined. The bond-slip relationships between structural bars and FRP composites with
surrounding materials including concrete, epoxy, and mortar have the following form of Eq. (1) [28].
( )0.4
S
τ = τu (1)
Su

where τ (MPa) is the shear stress at a particular slippage S (mm), Su (mm) is the maximum slippage which is dependent on the
structural bars and FRP rods type and the surrounding materials. τu is the maximum bond stress proposed by many researchers. These
values are listed in Table 2.
Three-dimensional zero thickness mesh tie constraints were used to simulate the intended interfaces. Mesh tie constraints are used
to determine which nodes on the slave surface are tied to the master surface. Three-dimensional zero thickness mesh tie constraints
each of the nodes on the slave surface to have the same motion and shear stresses on the master surface. In most of the cases, the
material with higher stiffness was selected as the master material.
According to the symmetry of the model in two perpendicular planes, only one-quarter of the beam was modeled. Consequently,
one-quarter of the load should be applied, which was schematically shown in Fig. 4. Due to the symmetric actions, the nodes on the
plane of symmetry should be constrained perpendicular to the axis and the moment, while these nodes were free to move along the
axis. Therefore, sliding fixed support was used to allow the mid-span deflection of the beam. Pin support was also used at the other side
of the beam which was schematically shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 7 illustrates the finite element simulation of the concrete beam with its
applied load and supports in ABAQUS.

3.2. Material properties

To capture the effects of concrete compressive strength on flexural behavior of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with FRP
composites, two different concretes namely, conventional and high-strength concretes which are denoted by VC30, and VC60
respectively were defined. Two main types of constitutive law namely Drucker-Prager and Concrete Damage Plasticity can be used to
simulate the plastic behavior of the concrete. The Elastic concrete material behavior was defined by Young’s Modulus and Poisson’s
Ratio, and the plastic behavior of concrete material was simulated with Concrete Damage Plasticity (concrete compression-tension
damage) by compressive strength, Poisson’s ratio, angle of dilation, the ratio of biaxial to uniaxial compressive strength, shear
strength ratio between biaxial and triaxial compression, and viscosity. The advantage of Concrete Damage Plasticity over the Drucker-
Prager is that the degradation of stiffness induced by generation and extension of cracks in concrete material can be addressed with the
SDGE parameter. Hence, the Concrete Damage Plasticity law was used in this study. Table 3 demonstrates the elastic and plastic
properties of conventional (VC30), and high-strength (VC60) concretes. A bilinear elastoplastic model was introduced to model the
nonlinear behavior of steel bars. In the proposed model, the steel bars behaved as elastic material before the applied stress reached the
yield stress. Thereafter, the plastic deformation occurred continuously with a constantly increasing rate of stress up to the failure state.
A brittle fracture model was also introduced to model the FRP composites response to the applied load. In this model, the behavior of
FRP rods was assumed to be linear up to the plastic strain. Thereafter, FRP rods lost their resistance instantly. Table 4 lists the steel bars
and FRP composites properties required for modeling.
Where E, σc, υ, ψ, σb0/σc0, Ks, and μ are the elastic modulus, compressive strength, Poisson’s ratio, angle of dilation, the ratio of
biaxial to uniaxial compressive strength, shear strength ratio between biaxial and triaxial compression, and viscosity, respectively.

Fig. 6. Illustration of the embedded region in finite element ABAQUS 6.11 software.

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Table 2
Bond-Slippage relationship [28].
Case τu (MPa) Su (mm)
√̅̅̅̅
Structural bars-Concrete 0.60
f ’c
FRP-Epoxy 15.24 0.11
√̅̅̅̅
FRP-Mortar 0.30
f ’c

Fig. 7. Finite element simulation of the concrete beam with its applied load and supports.

Table 3
Elastic and plastic properties of intended concrete [32].
Elastic properties of vibrated concretes

Concrete E (MPa) σc (MPa) υ

VC30 28.4 37.5 0.2
VC60 41.3 66.5 0.2

Plastic properties of vibrated concretes

Concrete ψ σb0/σc0 Ks μ
4
VC30 VC60 36˚ 1.16 0.667 5 × 10−

Table 4
Properties of steel bars and FRP composites [32].
E (GPa) fy (MPa) Fu (MPa) υ
Steel bars
210 600 700 0.3

E (GPa) fyt (MPa) υ

FRP composites
146 1875 0.22

Where the yield stress, the ultimate strength, and tensile strength are denoted by fy, Fu, fyt, respectively.

4. Verification of the finite element simulation

To appraise the validity of finite element software ABAQUS 6.11 to simulate the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete beams
strengthened with NSM FRP rods, a comparison was made between the numerical results of the current study to experimental results of
Al-Mahmoud et al. [32]. As seen in Fig. 8, the results of finite element numerical simulations were in good consistency with the
experimental study of Al-Mahmoud et al. [32] at all stages of load-deflection increment up to the failure load. It can be seen from Fig. 8
that the flexural capacity of strengthened beams increased in comparison with that of the control beam. Moreover, the efficiency of
strengthening the reinforced concrete beam increased with an increase in the embedded length of FRP rods.
Furthermore, the cracking moment of concrete, steel yielding moment, and the ultimate bending moment of control and
strengthened beams were compared and reported in Table 5. It worth mentioning that the concrete cracking moment was measured at
the end of the elastic range where the reinforcement effect of steel bars and NSM rods were utilized, and the strength and stiffness of the
specimens significantly increased again. It can be seen from Fig. 8 and Table 5 that, the results of bending moment versus mid-span
deflection, cracking, steel yield, and ultimate bending moments of control and strengthened beams were in good agreement with
experimental investigations of Al-Mahmoud et al. [32].
Generally, the curves in Fig. 8 (also the results reported in Table 5) present an approximate tri-linear response defined by concrete
cracking, steel yielding, and post-yielding stages up to the failure mode. In the first stage, before cracking, the strengthened beams
followed a linear elastic behavior pattern. The NSM rods had slight impacts on the concrete cracking moments and deflection at this

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Fig. 8. Verification of numerical results of the current study with experimental investigations of Al-Mahmoud et al. [32].

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Table 5
Comparison of numerical finite element analysis of the current study with experimental investigation of Al-Mahmoud et al. [32].
Concrete Cracking Moment (kN.m) Steel Yielding Moment (kN.m) Ultimate Bending Moment (kN.m)
Beam’s Property
Al-Mahmoud et al. [32] Current study Differences (%) Al-Mahmoud et al. [32] Current study Differences (%) Al-Mahmoud et al. [32] Current study Differences (%)

Control beam 7 7.2 2.77 28.5 28.1 − 1.42 29.5 29.5 0

S-C 6 (VC30) 8 7.8 − 2.54 35.2 36 2.22 58.5 58 − 0.86
9

−
S-C 6 (270-R) 7.4 7.2 − 2.77 36.8 35.5 − 3.66 53.3 53 − 0.56
S-C 6 (210-R) 8.1 8 − 1.25 38.2 37 − 3.24 44 43.8 − 0.45
S-C 6 (VC60) 12.3 12 − 2.50 36.9 36 − 2.50 59.2 57.8 − 2.42
S-C 6 (270-M) 8.1 7.9 − 2.53 35.3 34.8 − 1.43 43.9 43.5 − 0.91
S-C 12 (VC30) 7.8 7.6 − 2.64 47.7 46.7 − 1.98 65.4 62.8 − 4.14
S-C 12 (VC60) 11.6 11.3 − 2.65 44.8 43.4 − 3.22 73.2 69.9 − 4.72

Case Studies in Construction Materials 15 (2021) e00601

M. Panahi et al. Case Studies in Construction Materials 15 (2021) e00601

stage (see Fig. 8 and Table 5). In the second stage, from the points of cracking to the steel yield stage, the NSM technique significantly
increased the stiffness and yielding moment in comparison to the control beam. The steel yielding moment increased by 23.8 % and
67.2 % over the control beam for S-C6 (VC60) and S-C12 (VC30) as the minimum and maximum rate of increase, respectively. In the
last stage between the steel yield point and the failure state, as the bending moment increased the mid-span deflection of the beam
increase with a higher rate in comparison to the previous stages. In this stage, the NSM FRP rods and their configurations played
significant roles in the response of load-deflection curves of the specimens. The ultimate bending moment of beams strengthened with
S-C12 (VC60) as the specimen with the most bearing capacity was calculated to be 69.9 kN.m which is 2.36 times the control beam.
The SC6-210R beam failed at an ultimate bending moment of 43.8 kN.m which is 1.48 times of control beam.
As a non-limiting example, Fig. 9 demonstrates the results of stress distribution along the beam length, stress distribution along the
structural bars, and displacement of the beam. Furthermore, the results of ultimate bending moment and deflection at failure are
reported in Table 6. It can be seen from Table 6 that there is good agreement between the results of the predicted FE numerical
simulations and experimental studies of Al-Mahmoud et al. [32] for all control and strenghtended beams. As indicated in Table 6, the
maximum deviation between the results of current study and experimental investigations of Al-Mahmoud et al. [32] for the ultimate
bending moment and deflection at failure are less than 5 % for all of the simulated models.
For S-C 6 (VC30) and S-C 6 (270-R) specimens, it can be seen that small cracks were seen in the tension zones of concrete. Thereafter
steel yielding has happened and the CFRP rods resisted and increased the load-carrying capacity of the specimen. The development of
the cracks in the concrete and adhesive materials was followed by the initiation of horizontal cracks in the concrete at the junction of
groove and shear cracks. By increasing the applied load, the cracks induced by bending moment interact with shear cracks leading to
brittle failure of the concrete cover. For S-C 6 (210-R) the failure was due to the concrete cover peeling-off caused by the development

Fig. 9. Contour of a) stress distribution along the beam b) stress distribution along the structural bars and c) displacement along the beam length.

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Table 6
Comparison of numerical finite element analysis of the current study with experimental investigation of Al-Mahmoud et al. [32].
Deflection at Failure (mm) Ultimate Bending Moment (kN.m)
Beam’s Property
Al-Mahmoud et al. [32] Current study Differences (%) Al-Mahmoud et al. [32] Current study Differences (%)

Control beam 60.1 62.8 4.29 29.5 29.5 0

S-C 6 (VC30) 56.7 58.1 2.40 58.5 58 − 0.86
S-C 6 (270-R) 46.5 47.7 2.31 53.3 53 − 0.56
S-C 6 (210-R) 27 27.8 2.87 44 43.8 − 0.45
S-C 6 (VC60) 51 52.1 2.11 59.2 57.8 − 2.42
S-C 6 (270-M) 32.5 33.1 1.81 43.9 43.5 − 0.91
S-C 12 (VC30) 40.7 41.8 2.63 65.4 62.8 − 4.14
S-C 12 (VC60) 43.6 44.6 2.24 73.2 69.9 − 4.72

of shear cracks. As the reinforcement materials including steel bars and FRP rods are fully embedded in their surrounding materials, the
main failure mode of the numerical simulation is related to bar-end cover separation. Fig. 10 demonstrates the failure modes of the
above-mentioned specimens. It can be seen that the failure modes of simulated beam strengthened with NSM FRP techniques are
comparable with those of experimental studies of Al-Mahmoud et al. [32].

5. Results and discussion

In this study, the efficiency of flexural strengthening reinforced concrete beams with externally bonded FRP reinforcement (EBR)

Fig. 10. Failure modes of strengthened beams a) S-C 6 (VC30) b) S-C 6 (270-R), and c) S-C 6 (210-R).

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and combined externally bonded with near-surface mounted (CEBNSM) techniques were investigated. For this purpose, two distinct
groups of numerical modeling were conducted. In the first following section, some of the most effective factors on the overall efficiency
of strengthening reinforced concrete beams with EBR were discussed, and the other section was related to the simultaneous action of
EBR and NSM techniques. To compare EBR and CEBNSM specimens, a new control beam model without strengthening material was
introduced and extend for these two intended techniques.

5.1. Strengthening reinforced concrete beams with EBR

As seen in Fig. 2, the beams were 3000 mm long with a span distance of 2800 mm. The reinforced concrete beams had rectangular
section dimensions of 300 × 200 mm, 2Φ12, and 2Φ6 in tension and compression zones, respectively, with 6 mm diameter steel
stirrups spaced 150 mm apart. FRP sheets with different widths (b) and thickness (t) were used to strengthened reinforced concrete
beams. The length of externally bonded FRP sheets was kept constant (full length of span = 2800 mm) in all beams to evaluate the
effects of width and thickness of FRP sheets. The cross-sections of the control beam and strengthened reinforced concrete beams are
shown in Fig. 11.

5.1.1. Impact of FRP sheet width

The effect of FRP sheet width on the flexural capacity of strengthened beams was numerically investigated by modeling six different
beams with FRP sheet thickness of 1 mm and FRP width of 20, 40, 80, 100, 120, 150 mm. The bending moment-deflection curves of the
strengthened beams with the EBR technique and FRP sheets with different widths in comparison to the control beam are illustrated in
Fig. 12. As the FRP sheets were completely tied to the concrete material, the degrees of freedom of slave and master surfaces were
restricted to each other. Hence, the predominant numerical failure mechanism is plate end cover separation. It can be seen from Fig. 12
that the load-deflection behavior of all strengthened specimens generally had the same trend, especially before the concrete cracked.
After this stage, the reinforcement strength of FRP sheets was utilized, and the stiffness and load-carrying capacity of the beams
gradually increased up to the ultimate bending moment. The load-carrying capacity of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with
EBR FRP sheets increased with an increase in the width of FRP sheets as seen in Fig. 13.a. Another observation shown in Fig. 13.b is that
the ductility of the beam with a wider FRP sheet was lower than that of the beam with a lower value of FRP width. It worth mentioning
that the ductility index was considered as the ratio of maximum (failure) mid-span deflection to the first yield deflection corresponded
to the intersection of the tangents to the load-displacement curve with the origin point, i.e. ductility index=Δmax/Δy.
The summary of numerical analyses of beams strengthened with the EBR technique and different FRP sheet widths is listed in
Table 7. Analogous to the strengthening reinforced concrete beams with NSM, the load-deflection curves of the EBR technique had a
tri-linear response defined by concrete cracking, steel yielding and failure state which is shown in Fig. 12 and Table 7. By applying the
load, the strengthened specimens with different FRP sheets widths through EBR followed a linear elastic behavior pattern up to the
cracking moment. After this point, the FRP sheets increased significantly the stiffness and yielding moment in comparison to the
control beam. It can be observed from Fig. 12 that, the effects of FRP sheets on the variation of steel yield bending moment are more
pronounced than the variation of mid-span deflection of the beam at this stage. In the last stage between the steel yield point and the
failure state, as the bending moment increased the mid-span deflection of the beam increase with a higher rate in comparison to the
previous stages. The ultimate bending moment of strengthened beams was around 3.28–5.56 times the ultimate bending moment of
the control beam. Hence, the EBR technique showed its efficiency in flexural strengthening reinforced concrete members. In com­
parison to the model with an FRP sheet width of 20 mm, the ultimate bending moments of the beams increased 20, 49, 54, 58, and 69 %
for beams with b = 40, 80, 100, 120, 150 mm, respectively.

5.1.2. Impact of FRP sheet thickness

The effect of FRP sheet thickness was numerically investigated on the overall efficiency of strengthening reinforced concrete beams
with the EBR technique by finite element software ABAQUS 6.11. Four different numerical models with different FRP sheet thickness
namely, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, and 1 mm with constant FRP sheet width of 80 mm were modeled to capture the effects of FRP thickness on the
bending moment at mid-span of the beam, ultimate bending moment, and ductility of strengthened beams. Fig. 14 demonstrates the
numerical results of the bending moment at mid-span. As the FRP sheets were completely tied to the concrete material, the degrees of

Fig. 11. Reinforcement details of control and strengthened beams with EBR.

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Fig. 12. Effect of FRP sheet width on the bending moment at mid-span of strengthened beams with EBR FRP sheets.

Fig. 13. Variation of a) ultimate bending moment, b) ductility of strengthened beams with FRP sheets versus width of FRP sheet.

Table 7
Summary of numerical analyses of beams strengthened with EBR to capture the effect of FRP sheet width.
FRP sheet width (mm) Steel Yielding Moment (kN.m) Ultimate Bending Moment (kN.m) Failure deflection (mm) Ductility

20 81.55 115.00 60.08 4.00

40 90.43 138.69 58.97 3.68
80 107.65 171.44 57.49 3.38
100 114.80 178.77 56.68 3.14
120 124.65 181.96 56.04 2.94
150 139.91 194.75 55.42 2.77

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freedom of slave and master surfaces were restricted to each other. Hence, the predominant numerical failure mechanism is plate end
cover separation. It can be deduced from Figs. 14 and 15.a that the bending moment at the mid-span of the strengthened beams
increased with an increase in FRP sheet thickness. Another observation is that the deflection at failure and ductility of strengthened
beams decreased with an increase in FRP thickness. The reduction trend of ductility with an increase in FRP thickness was presented in
Fig. 15.b.
The steel yielding moment, ultimate bending moment, failure mid-span deflection, and ductility of intended beams are presented in
Table 8. Analogous to the application of different widths, the load-deflection curves of the EBR technique with different thicknesses
had tri-linear responses which are shown in Fig. 14, and Table 8. According to the numerical results listed in Table 8, the ultimate
bending moments of specimens with FRP sheets with thickness of t = 0.2, 0.5, 1 mm increased 20, 75, and 116 % in comparison to the
beam with t = 0.1 mm.
The results of steel yielding moment, ultimate bending moment, failure deflection, and ductility index of 2 different models with
the same cross-section area of FRP material and different thickness and width values are reported in Table 9 to evaluate the most
effective factor among thickness or width of FRP sheets.
It can be seen from the Table that only the ductility index has a meaningful difference between the results of these two models. The
yield deflection of the model with b = 80 and t = 0.5 mm is lower than the model with b = 40, and t = 1 mm. Consequently, the
ductility of the model with b = 80 and t = 0.5 mm is higher than the other one. Furthermore, for a constant cross-section area of FRP
materials, the debonding potential significantly increases with an increase of FRP thickness. Hence, it is more favorable to use FRP
sheets with lower thickness and higher width.

5.2. Strengthening reinforced concrete beams with combined EBR and NSM techniques

According to the above-mentioned limitations of EBR and NSM methods, a new method of strengthening reinforced concrete beams
was proposed based on the combination of EBR and NSM methods, which was called the combined externally bonded near-surface
mounted method (CEBNSM). The reinforcement details of the control beam and strengthened beams with combined EBR and NSM
techniques (CEBNSM) are shown in Fig. 16. The load was applied in the form of increasing two-point loading (four-point bending) up
to the failure load. The control and strengthened beams had 3000 mm long with a center to center distance of 2800 mm. As seen in
Fig. 16, the models had a cross-section of 300 × 200 mm and two 12 mm bars in the tension zone, two 6 mm in diameter bars in the
compression zone, and 6 mm diameter steel stirrups spaced 150 mm apart. The specimens consisted of 1Φ12 FRP rod and FRP sheet
with different widths and a constant thickness of 1 mm. The length of externally bonded FRP sheets was kept constant (full length of
span = 2800 mm) in all beams to evaluate the effects of the width of FRP sheets. The FRP rod was embedded in the full length of beams
( = 3000 mm). In Fig. 17, a comparison was made between the load-deflection curves of the control beam, EBR technique, and cor­
responding CEBNSM for different sheets width. It can be deduced from Fig. 17 that the load-deflection curves of strengthened beams
are the same in the elastic range. As the load pass over the elastic range, the strength and stiffness of beams strengthened with CEBNSM

Fig. 14. Effect of FRP sheet thickness on the bending moment at mid-span of strengthened beams with EBR FRP sheets.

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Case Studies in Construction Materials 15 (2021) e00601

Fig. 15. Variation of a) ultimate bending moment, b) ductility of strengthened beams with FRP sheets versus thickness of FRP sheet.
M. Panahi et al. Case Studies in Construction Materials 15 (2021) e00601

Table 8
Summary of numerical analyses of beams strengthened with EBR to capture the effect of FRP sheet thickness.
FRP sheet thickness (mm) Steel Yielding Moment (kN.m) Ultimate Bending Moment (kN.m) Failure deflection (mm) Ductility

0.1 73.00 79.85 68.04 4.86

0.2 75.84 95.63 63.32 4.52
0.5 90.87 139.65 59.87 4.27
1 107.65 171.44 57.49 4.10

Table 9
Comparison of the results of the current study for the same cross-section and different thickness and width.
FRP sheet thickness FRP sheet width Steel Yielding Moment (kN. Ultimate Bending Moment (kN. Failure deflection Ductility
(mm) (mm) m) m) (mm)

0.5 80 90.87 139.65 59.87 4.27

1 40 90.43 138.69 58.97 3.68

Fig. 16. Reinforcement details of control and strengthened beams with CEBNSM.

gradually increased in comparison to the EBR technique. In other words, the extra reinforcement material contributions initiated after
the elastic range and improved the load-carrying capacity of the beams. By increasing the cross-section area of the FRP sheets, the
contributions of the NSM FRP rod in increasing the ultimate bending moment of the strengthened beams decreases and EBR technique
impacts are more highlighted. As the anchoring effect of the NSM FRP rod and EBR FRP sheet is increased by an increase in the width of
FRP sheets, the flexural capacity of strengthened beams increases, accordingly. It can be seen from Figs. 18 and 19, and 19.a that the
flexural capacity of strengthened beams increased as the width of the FRP sheet increased which was arising from the better anchoring
effect of the NSM FRP rod and EBR FRP sheet. The ductility had a vice versa trend, and the ductility decreased with an increase in the
FRP sheet area (Fig. 19.b).
A summary of numerical analyses on the flexural strengthening reinforced concrete beams with the CEBNSM method was reported
in Table 10 Like any other strengthening methods, the load-deflection curves of CEBNSM method included three different sections
including concrete cracking, steel yielding, and post-yielding stages up to the failure mode which are shown in Figs. 17, 18 and
Table 10. The ultimate bending moments of strengthened beams with the CEBNSM technique were around 4.84–6 times the ultimate
bending moment of the control beam. In comparison to the sole action of the EBR method, the CEBNSM method had a higher range of
ultimate bending moment. Hence, the CEBNSM technique showed its higher efficiency over EBR in flexural strengthening reinforced
concrete members. In comparison to the model with an FRP sheet width of 20 mm, the ultimate bending moments of the beams
increased 6, 15, 17, 19, and 24 % for beams with b = 40, 80, 100, 120, 150 mm, respectively.

5.3. Comparison of the failure mechanism of strengthened beams

For the sake of comparison of the failure mechanisms, the damage evolution and element removal of control beam, EBR and
CEBNSM techniques for models with the cross-section of 300 × 200 mm, 2Φ12 mm in tension zone, 2Φ6 mm in the compression zone,
1Φ6@150 mm steel stirrups, 1Φ12 FRP rod and FRP sheet width of 100 mm with a thickness of 1 mm were shown in Fig. 20. It can be
seen from Fig. 20 that, the end interfacial debonding is the most common failure mechanism of reinforced concrete beams
strengthened with FRP plates in EBR technique and combined method sustaining increasing bending moment up to the failure load.
The end interfacial debonding is initiated by increasing the interfacial normal and shear stresses near the end of the bars. In this case,
the failure plane of the concrete is generated near the end of the structural bars and extended to the middle of the beam. Some cracks
were developed along the beam length where the concrete has no or limited tension resistance. By increasing the applied load, these

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Fig. 17. Comparison of the effect of FRP sheet width on the bending moment at mid-span of strengthened beams with EBR and CEBNSM techniques;
a) b = 20, b) b = 40, c) b = 80, d) b = 100, e) = 120, and f) b = 150 mm.

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Fig. 18. Effect of FRP sheet thickness on the bending moment at mid-span of strengthened beams with CEBNSM FRP sheets.

cracks extended along the tension bars leading to the bar detachment with the concrete cover. The failure mechanism of the CEBNSM
model is more similar to the failure mechanism of the EBR technique in comparison to the control beam. At failure state, and in the case
of the control beam, the cracks were generated and extended along the tension zone of the beam. By adding strengthening material
such as the FRP sheet and FRP rod, the fewer meshes reached the maximum value of SDEG. Therefore, the FRP materials efficiently
reduced the width and spacing of the cracks.

6. Summary and conclusion

In this study, the flexural strengthening efficiencies of reinforced concrete beams with FRP composites with near-surface mounted,
externally bonded, and combined externally near-surface mounted techniques were investigated through numerical finite element
software ABAQUS 6.11. The simultaneous use of EBR and NSM methods can mutually overcome the limitations of these techniques.
The effects of different material properties, geometrical conditions, and configurations on the flexural behavior of strengthened beams
with the intended techniques were investigated based on four-points bending numerical simulation. From the findings of this study, the
following conclusions can be drawn.

• The flexural capacity and stiffness of reinforced concrete beams with NSM FRP rods significantly increased in comparison to those
of the control beam, while the mid-span deflections of strengthened beams at failure mainly decreased compared to the control
beam.
• The ultimate bending moment and stiffness of beams increased with an increase in material strength, and embedded length. By
making a comparison between the results of strengthened reinforced concrete beams with those of the control beam, the overall
efficiency of strengthening techniques on the flexural behavior of models was confirmed.
• For a constant area of FRP rods, the ultimate bending moment of beams with 1Φ12 was higher than 2Φ6, and the efficiency of the
strengthening method was more pronounced. Besides, the mid-span deflection at failure and ductility of strengthened beams
decreased with an increase in FRP rod diameter.
• The load-deflection behavior of all strengthened specimens with FRP composites generally had the same trend with an approximate
tri-linear response defined by concrete cracking, steel yielding, and post-yielding stages up to the failure mode. In the first stage,
before cracking, the strengthened beams followed a linear elastic behavior pattern and the FRP composites had impacts on the
concrete cracking moments and deflection at this stage. After this stage, the reinforcement strength of FRP sheets was utilized, and
the stiffness and load-carrying capacity of the beams gradually increased up to the ultimate bending moment in comparison to the
control beam. By applying further load the mid-span deflection of the beam increase with a higher rate in comparison to the
previous stages.
• The load-carrying capacity of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with EB FRP sheets increased with an increase in the width of
FRP sheets. While the ductility of the beam with a wider FRP sheet was lower than that of the beam with a lower value of FRP width.

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Case Studies in Construction Materials 15 (2021) e00601

Fig. 19. Variation of a) ultimate bending moment, b) ductility of strengthened beams with FRP sheets versus width of FRP sheet in the CEBNSM technique.
M. Panahi et al. Case Studies in Construction Materials 15 (2021) e00601

Table 10
Summary of numerical analyses of beams strengthened with CEBNSM to capture the effect of FRP sheet width.
FRP sheet width (mm) Steel Yielding Moment (kN.m) Ultimate Bending Moment (kN.m) Failure deflection (mm) Ductility

20 107.12 167.96 55.89 4.29

40 116.38 178.84 55.25 3.94
80 131.66 192.83 55.25 3.68
100 139.77 196.35 55.19 3.44
120 148.58 198.96 54.80 3.22
150 157.48 208.21 54.71 2.73

Fig. 20. Comparison of the failure mechanism of a) control beam, b) EBR c) CEBNSM.

• The ultimate bending moment of strengthened beams was around 3.28–5.56 times the ultimate bending moment of the control
beam. Hence, the EBR technique showed its efficiency in flexural strengthening reinforced concrete members. In comparison to the
model with an FRP sheet width of 20 mm, the ultimate bending moments of the beams increased 20, 49, 54, 58, and 69 % for beams
with b = 40, 80, 100, 120, 150 mm, respectively.
• Finite element simulation of strengthened reinforced concrete beams confirmed that the bending moment at the mid-span of the
strengthened beams increased with an increase in FRP sheet thickness. While the deflection at failure and ductility of strengthened
reinforced concrete beams decreased with an increase in FRP thickness. The ultimate bending moments of specimens with FRP
sheets with thickness of t = 0.2, 0.5, 1 mm increased 20, 75, and 116 % in comparison to the beam with t = 0.1 mm.

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M. Panahi et al. Case Studies in Construction Materials 15 (2021) e00601

• The load-deflection curves of control and strengthened beams with CEBNSM method were the same in the elastic range. The
reinforcement material contributions initiated after the elastic range and the load-carrying capacity of the beams improved,
accordingly. The contributions of the NSM FRP rod decreased with an increase in FRP sheet width and the reinforcement effect of
the NSMFRP rod was more highlighted in the case of narrower FRP sheet.
• The flexural capacity of strengthened beams increased as the width of the FRP sheet increased, which was arising from the better
anchoring effect of the NSM FRP rod and EBR FRP sheet. In comparison to the sole action of the EBR method, the CEBNSM method
had a higher range of ultimate bending moment. In comparison to the model with FRP sheet width of 20 mm and 1Φ12 mm as NSM
FRP rods, the ultimate bending moments of the beams increased 6, 15, 17, 19, and 24 % for beams with b = 40, 80, 100, 120,
150 mm, respectively.

Funding support

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Data availability

The processed data required to reproduce these findings cannot be shared at this time as the data also forms part of an ongoing
study.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing for financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank Dr. Mohsen Izadinia and Dr. Parham Memarzadeh for their valuable support during this study.

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