NONLINEAR ANALYSIS OF REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAM STRENGTHENED WITH FERROCEMENT

The paper deals with the flexural response of reinforced concrete beams strengthened by ferrocement jackets. 16 reinforced concrete beams strengthened with ferrocement and 2 plain specimens were tested. The ferrocement was cast onto the tension face and two profile faces of the beams. Performances of the beams are compared and assessed with particular emphasis on cracking behavior, mid-span deflection, and ultimate strength capacity. The test results confirm that ferrocement contributes greatly to the increase of flexural resistance capacity, raises crack-resisting capacity and improves the bending stiffness of RC beams. A nonlinear analysis method is used to obtain the whole load-deflection curves for RC beams. The theoretical curves are in good agreement with the experimental curves of the tested beams.