Flexural Response of JFRP and BFRP Strengthened RC Beams

Abstract—In the last few decades, many studies have been conducted on the flexural strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) beams using different strengthening techniques such as concrete, steel and artificial fiber reinforced polymer composites (FRP). Among artificial FRPs, mainly glass, carbon and aramid fibers have been considered extensively. This study presents an experimental investigation on the flexural strengthening of small scale RC beams using natural fibers such as jute fiber reinforced polymer composites (JFRP) and basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) composites. A total number of five RC beams were constructed and tested under three point bending loading scheme to investigate the flexural response of both un-strengthened and FRP strengthened RC beams. Two types of strengthening techniques were adopted to strengthen RC beams. In strengthening technique A, the fiber was applied only at the tension side of the RC beams whereas in strengthening technique B, the fiber was applied both at sides and at the bottom in the form of U shape. The results indicate that use of both strengthening materials such as JFRP and BFRP is very effective to enhance ultimate load carrying capacity of RC beams. Further it was found that strengthening technique B is more efficient as compared with the strengthening technique A.