Abstract
A numerical analysis has been conducted to simulate and evaluate the strengthening effects of concrete beams with externally bonded fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) sheets. Mixed finite elements are used to model the displacement discontinuities both in plain concrete body and along FRP-concrete interface where debonding caused by shear stress usually takes place_ From experimental results, several failure phenomena, including concrete shear failure, debonding along the FRP-concrete interface and FRP rupture, were observed. Through a parametric analysis on concrete tensile strength, bond strength of interfacial layer and thickness of FRP sheet, the numerical simulation has been conducted and the analysis results are compared with the experimental ones. Thus, the mixed finite element formulation is proved to be efficient in analysis of debonding propagation problems in FRP-reinforced concrete structures.
