REPAIR OF FLEXURAL DAMAGED REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAMS USING EMBEDDED BAMBOO REINFORCED EPOXY COMPOSITE
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Date
2020
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Abstract
In recent years, repair and retrofit of existing structures such as buildings and bridges have been
among the most important challenges in Civil Engineering. Strengthening reinforced concrete (RC)
members with steel plates is a conventional method that has been adopted for decades. The
corrosive nature of steel plates, its weight and the need for many anchor bolts for attachment makes
it inefficient for retrofitting damaged structures. Thus, there is a need to source for an alternative
material which does not corrode and still be used in the strengthening of reinforced concrete.
Bamboo Reinforced Epoxy Composite (BREC) was used to repair five (5) damaged reinforced concrete
beams in this research. Two of the beams were preloaded to 40 % and 60 % of the ultimate load
before strengthening with BREC and all the beams were loaded to failure. The RC beams implanted
with BREC rods experienced a rise in their load carrying capacity when tested. Beams preloaded up
to 40 % and 60 % had an increase in flexural strength of 33.7 % and 39.3 % respectively when
compared with beams reinforced with steel reinforcements. BREC rods in concrete is an effective
method in increasing the flexural strength of RC beams.