Slip effects in reinforced concrete beams with mechanically fastened FRP strip

This investigation concerns the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened with a mechanically fastened pultruded FRP strip (MF-FRP beams). Twelve small size MF-FRP beams and two control RC beams were tested under flexural loading. The main failure mode observed in this experimental program was nail rotation and bearing damage under increasing flexural load, which resulted in FRP slip with respect to the soffit of the RC-beam and loss of stress transfer. Strain gage data and visual observations obtained during the experiments provided useful insight for developing a new procedure for estimating the nominal moment capacity of the MF-FRP beams. The proposed method is guided by experimental evidence pointing to the significance of nail rotation associated with flexural cracking in RC beams. The developed procedure, based on a “strain reduction factor” of 24%, is able to estimate the nominal moment capacity of the MF-FRP beams with good accuracy.