Modeling of debonding failure for RC beams strengthened in shear with NSM FRP reinforcement

The shear capacity of reinforced concrete members can be successfully increased using near-surface mounted (NSM) fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement. Tests conducted thus far have shown that failure is often controlled by diagonal tension associated to debonding between the NSM reinforcement and the concrete substrate. In absence of steel stirrups and/or when the spacing of the NSM reinforcement is large, debonding involves separately each of the bars crossed by the critical shear crack. In order for shear strengthening of beams with NSM reinforcement to be safely designed, an analytical model able to encompass the failure mode mentioned above must be developed. This paper presents two possible approaches, a simplified and a more sophisticated one, to predict the FRP contribution to the shear capacity. In the first approach, suitable for immediate design use, an ideally plastic bond–slip behavior of the NSM reinforcement is assumed, which implies a complete redistribution of the bond stresses along the reinforcement at ultimate. The second approach, implemented numerically, accounts for detailed bond–slip modeling of the NSM reinforcement, considering different types of local bond–slip laws calibrated during previous experimental investigations. It also takes advantage of an approach developed by previous researchers to evaluate the interaction between the contributions of steel stirrups and FRP reinforcement to the shear capacity. The paper illustrates the two models and compares their predictions, with the ultimate goal to evaluate whether the first simple model can be used expecting the same safety in predictions of the second model.