STUDY ON FLEXURAL BEHAVIOR OF REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAM STRENGTHENED WITH STEEL WIRE MESH AND POLYMER MORTAR

Rehabilitation of reinforced concrete members with steel wire mesh and polymer mortar is a new method of structural strengthening with the advantages of resistance to fire, corrosion, ageing, and rapid construction speed. This new technique has been gradually applied in the strengthening of reinforced concrete structures. Existing test results indicated that the overall flexural behaviour of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with steel wire mesh and polymer mortar can be divided into three stages: precracking stage, cracking stage, and failure stage. The research conducted so far on the flexural rehabilitation of virgin RC beams in failure stage beyond the steel bar yield by using steel wire mesh composites is quite limited and of a preliminary and exploratory character, while the flexural behaviour of RC beams strengthened by steel wire mesh composites in the serviceability limit stage is rather extensive. Based on existing test results, a moment deflection model is developed by using a transformed section approach. The flexural behaviour of the strengthened specimens subjected to a four-point bending test was addressed. The suggested model was verified using the test data of 10 strengthened beams, and a good agreement between experiment and prediction values is achieved.