Effectiveness of anchorage in concrete beams retrofitted with sprayed fiber-reinforced polymers

Abstract

This paper presents the result of an experimental study conducted to investigate the effectiveness of anchorage in concrete beams retrofitted with sprayed fiber- reinforced polymers (SFRP). It was intended to investigate whether the anchorage was an effective method to enhance the bond between the repair system and the application face. The anchorage is based on the idea of embedding the ends of the SFRP layer into preformed slits in the concrete so that the SFRP layer and anchors behave as a body. A series of three-point bending tests were conducted on notched plain concrete specimens retrofitted with SFRP layer and anchors. The test results were compared with those of control specimens and specimens retrofitted with SFRP without anchors to compare the performance enhancement between specimens with and without anchorage. The results show that the bond between the application face and the SFRP was sufficient enough to transfer the loads in the specimen to the repair system. The anchorage was not essential to enhancing the performance of concrete beams retrofitted with SFRP.