Strengthening of RC Slabs

Abstract:
Providing opening for essential works such as stairs,elevators,etc but by doing so we are
compromising the strength of the slab. To investigate the strengthening of two-war RC slabs
with an opening,one reference slab was tken and monotonic and cyclic type loading was
provided. The test results shows that the deflection of strengthened slab with opening under
service loads are more than that of slab without opening.
Keywords: Externally Bonded Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer,

1. Introduction: composites, even though the problem of

The need for installing openings in their upgrade, both in building and in
existing RC slabs because of facilities such bridges are common. The latest studies and
as elevators, escalators, stairs, fire experience demonstrated that rehabilitation
extinguishing systems. As opening is of RC slabs requires less FRP material to
necessary it also break the continuity of achieve equivalent increases in stiffness
the slab and reduces the load carrying and strength compared with RC beams.
capacity, stiffness and ductility of the slab. Sabry Fayed (2019) from his experimental
One of the traditional method is to provide work gives the idea that the strain-
with the equal steel bars at the edges of the hardening cementitious composite (SHCC)
opening. ACI 318-14 (2014) suggests that has been an innovative technique for
the total number of reinforcement required strengthening the RC slabs for the last
before opening should be same as after decade. The SHCC consisted of the special
opening and this can be done by providing material composition plus the fibres. The
half of the missing reinforcement on each main advantage of SHCC is controlling
side of the slab opening. If we use micro-cracking behaviour under tension
additional steel bars near the opening of force. This material is able to improve the
slab it’s very difficult or impossible. durability of the concrete elements. In
ACI 440.2R-08 (2008) recommends a addition, the compressive strength of
simpler way to increase the strength of the SHCC is higher than that of normal
opening slab is to provide the bonding of concrete. This strengthening technique was
Fibre Reinforced Polymer(FRP) sheets on used many times for RC beams in the last
tension side of slab. few years, especially in order to improve
the flexural capacity. By a paper presented
Hussein et al (2014) from their on a review study on the mechanical
experimental study they stated that, properties of the fibre-reinforced concrete.
externally bonded Fibre Polymer (FRP) Effect of specimen shapes on the
composites are considered as effective compressive strength of the engineered
means for rehabilitation of deficient cementitious composites with different
reinforced concrete (RC) members. values of water-to-binder ratio was studied
Limited research studies are available by Chung et al. Khalil et al. induced an
reporting on repair and strengthening of experimental work to investigate the
one-way and two-way RC slab with FRP
behaviour of strengthened RC beams by because of its durability, formability,
using an ultra-hyper performance-strain- strength, and low retention costs.
hardening cementitious composite (UHP- However, concrete is brittle under tensile
SHCC) layer. SHCC layer had different stress due to its low tensile strength.
reinforcement ratios and different Therefore, reinforcement is needed to
thicknesses. The RC beams were tested reach adequate flexural and shear strength.
under monotonic and repeated loading. Recently, a new type of cementitious
The results showed that using the internal material has been introduced by
bars embedded in the SHCC layer researchers in the field of construction
achieved adequate ductility for the materials technology to eliminate the
strengthened beams subjected to static and deficiency of traditional concrete.
repeated loading. Moreover, fibre-reinforced concrete has
become popular because of its enhanced
Mahdieh Sabbaghian and Ali Kheyroddin
feature after cracking.
from their research paper introduced that
for many reasons, it is necessary to Tolga Yilmaz et al. (2018), Reinforced
strengthen existing structures with concrete slabs are structural members that
numerous techniques developed for this are commonly used in constructions. Slabs
purpose. RC jacketing, externally bonding are designed by considering the effects of
steel plates, fibre-reinforced polymer both vertical static and dynamic loads.
(FRP), etc. are some strengthening Impact load is a kind of impulsive
techniques with their pros and cons. In dynamic load which is ignored in the
particular, a major disadvantage of design process of slabs like other structural
externally bonded steel plates is their fire members. The behaviour of reinforced
resistance. The RC jacket can be used by concrete slabs under impact loading is an
adding large layers of concrete with a area of research that is still not well
thickness of about 60–70 mm due to the understood; however, work in this area
presence of rebar’s, which require a continues to be motivated by a broad range
minimum concrete cover [1–4]. The of applications. Examples include
superiority of fibre-reinforced polymers reinforced concrete structures designed to
(FRPs) is due to their high stiffness-to- resist accidental loading scenarios such as
weight ratio or strength-to-weight ratio; in falling rock impact; vehicle or ship
addition, externally bonded FRP exhibits collisions with buildings, bridges, or
better durability compared to their steel offshore facilities; and structures that are
counterparts. On the other hand, its used in high-threat or high-hazard
disadvantage is the debonding of the FRP applications, such as military fortification
sheet through the concrete substrate structures or nuclear facilities. As a result,
because the mechanical confidants of them considerable work has been undertaken in
are not the same and have a considerable an effort to develop impact-resistant
unconformity in the stiffness and tensile design procedures and to improve the
strength compared to concrete. As a result, performance of reinforced concrete
strengthening by adding FRP is vulnerable structures subjected to impact loads.
to undesirable brittle failures. The other However, there are the very limited
obstacle associated with this technique is amounts of studies on their effects in
the trace of length disposal to temperature comparison to the studies which are under
alteration [5–8]. Concrete has been proven the effect of static and dynamic loads. The
to be a suitable material for structures major reason for such inadequate study is
the fact that the analyses and design of 2.1) Strengthening of Two-way RC
structures exposed to dynamic impact Slabs with Central Opening:
loading are generally very complex, and In this experiment there were seven slab
these analyses become more complicated specimens of dimensions 1800mm X
when working with inelastic materials, 1800mm X 90mm. The reinforcement ratio
such as reinforced concrete. is 0.87% and 1.77% of 10mm steel
R. Al-Rousan, M. Issa, H. Shabila (2011), diameter bar and 14mm steel diameter bar
has stated, recently CFRP materials are respectively.
considered as the best composite materials Concrete is designed to give cylindrical
for rehabilitation and strengthening of compressive strength of 30Mpa. The
deficient reinforced concrete (RC) diameter or cylinder is 150mm and height
members [1–6]. The use of these materials is 300mm.
in strengthening of beams and columns
gained more popularity than strengthening
of slabs. Limited research studies are
available reporting on strengthening and
repair of one-way and two-way RC slabs
with CFRP, even though the problem of
their upgrade, both in buildings and in
bridges, is quite common.
M. Gherdaoui et al. (2018) said that The
civil engineering field is in a constant
evolution, despite this, we find a large
number of civil engineering structures or 2.2) Experimental and FE Study on RC
buildings are found degraded for different One-Way Slabs Upgraded with FRP
reasons, such as damaged due to accidents, Composites:
building re development. One of the The test matrix was designed to investigate
applications that can successfully repair the viability of using FRP composites in
and reinforce structural elements made of upgrading the flexural load capacity of RC
reinforced concrete (such as columns) is one-way slabs. The test program consisted
the use of composite materials, such as of 8 slabs divided into 4 groups consisting
external reinforcement to plead to extreme of two repeated slabs each. Specimens
mechanical actions (earthquake) where were duplicated to verify the repeatability
environmental. This field of application is of the results and to get more confidence in
expanding more and more to other types of the conclusions of this study. All slab
structures working mainly in flexion, such specimens were 1080 mm long with an
as slabs. With regard to this last type, more effective span of 930 mm, 2010 mm wide,
lines of research are expanding. and 100 mm deep. The slab dimensions
were selected to comply with available
resources in the laboratory. With a
2. Experiment: concrete clear cover of 20 mm, all
Experimental procedure and various specimens were longitudinally reinforced
details regarding the various research with 8, 10 mm steel diameter bars at 250
paper are listed below. mm spacing resulting in a reinforcement
ratio of 0.42%; whereas, 4, 8 mm steel
diameter bars at 300 mm spacing were under a flexural bending moment to
placed in the transverse direction. All slab determine the tension strength of the
sections were intentionally designed to be concrete.
under-reinforced to ensure flexural failure
modes initiated by yielding of main
tension steel, and to reveal the
effectiveness of FRP composites in
enhancing the flexural capacity.
Six standard cylinders (150 × 300 mm)
were also prepared for compression testing
at 28 days. The average compressive
strength of the six cylindrical samples of
the concrete mix was 24 MPa. 2.4) Flexural strengthening of RC one
way slabs with high-performance fibre
reinforced cementitious composite
laminates using steel and GFRP bar:
This experimental study examines seven,
weak, one-way, RC slabs (1000 × 400 ×
25 mm3) through flexural strength testing.
One of the seven was used as the control
specimen, whereas the others were
strengthened using the HPFRCC laminate.
In this paper, the first HPFRCC material
2.3) Flexural Strengthening of Defected
was investigated to determine the mix
RC Slabs Using Strain-Hardening
proportion that can be exploited for the
Cementitious Composites (SHCC): strengthening of weak one-way RC slabs
The mix of substrate concrete consisted of when applied as a real-size laminate; then,
gravel with a maximum aggregate size of the laminates have been tested to define
15 mm, sand, Portland cement and a water attributes 25 mm thickness actual
mix. Tension tests were performed on the dimensional HPFRCC laminates have been
reinforcing bars using the universal testing manufactured with and without
machine in order to obtain the proof and longitudinal steel reinforcements.
ultimate strengths. The average proof
strength was 250 MPa and 344 MPa for
8 mm diameter and 10 mm diameter,
respectively. The corresponding average
ultimate tensile strength was 350 MPa and
551.7 MPa for 8 mm diameter and 10 mm
diameter, respectively. For the SHCC
layer, the average compressive strength 2.5) Low-velocity impact behaviour of
was 46.5 MPa at the same time of the test.
two way RC slab strengthening with
To determine the tension strength of the
CFRP strips:
concrete, the splitting test was carried out
Nine square reinforced concrete slabs are
on three cylinders of 150 mm diameter and
manufactured and tested in the scope of
300 mm height. Also, three plain concrete
this experimental study. A constant
beams (100 × 100 × 300 mm) were tested
reinforcement ratio is used in the 1000mm with steel bars having a diameter of 6 mm
X 1000mm X 80 mm slabs. Dimensions spaced at 8.12 cm in x direction and 13.35
and reinforcement details of the test cm in y direction. When tested; the slab is
specimens are given. Characteristics of test supported in four sides and placed at a
specimens are given. The targeted concrete spacing of 915 630 mm2 . The load was
compressive strength of the specimens was applied centrally on the slab over 60 mm
25 MPa, and the average concrete diameter area. For measured the strain we
compressive strength of the produced used the extensometry bridge and gages,
members is determined as 24.6 MPa. strain gages were fixed at lower slab.

2.6) Performance of reinforced

concrete slabs strengthened with
different types and configurations of
CFRP:
A total of eight reinforced concrete slabs,
2440 600 125 mm, were casted using
concrete mixture. The slab reinforcement 2.8) Strengthening and repair of
included 5-4 no. bars, except one slab circular RC slabs with openings using
provided with 3-3 no. bars, in the long CFRP strips under repeated loading:
direction and 3 number bars at 300 mm The experimental program consists of
spacing centre to centre in the short testing thirteen slab specimens. The all
direction. slab specimens have dimensions of (1200
mm in diameter and 75 mm in thicknesses)
and with a clear concrete cover of (15
mm). Compressive strength of cylindrical
concrete specimens with dimensions of
(150mm X 300 mm) was equal to (30
MPa) at age of 28 days and were
reinforced with steel bars of (6 mm in
diameter with spacing of 150 mm c/c). The
slab specimens were assumed to be simply
supported on the all edges and tested under
2.7) Punching behaviour of repeated loading.
strengthened and repaired RC slabs In this paper, three control RC slabs
with CFRP: without strengthening, five CFRP
Thirteen slabs in three groups were tested. strengthened RC slabs, and five repaired
All had the same sectional dimensions: RC slabs were tested. The parameters
680 mm in width, 60 mm in depth and 965 considered in this study are as follows:
mm in length. The slabs were reinforced
  Strengthening schemes of circular
RC slabs by CFRP strips.
 The shape of openings in the
circular RC slabs with equal size.
 Acquaintance the difference
between strengthening and repair.

3. Experimental Results:
Experimental result and various details
diagram,graphs and table for the various
research paper are below.
3.1) Strengthening of Two-way RC
Slabs with Central Opening:
The table below shows the cracking load
and ultimate load of the various type of
slabs.
In this table it also shows the the type of
failure and deflection in the corner as well
as in the middle of the opening.

The table above is the stiffness value of

various slabs which we get after the
experiment.
Now the below comes the figures of the
failure slabs.
The table below represents load VS Fig 7 is the failure mode and cracking
deflection graph. pattern of the reference slab.
1. Fig. A of opening corner side- load Normal slab with no opening-10mm
vs deflection steel diagram and failed due to flexure.
2. Fig b of middle of opening side-load
vs deflection
3. The sudden drop in curve signifies
that the slab has failed or reached its
ultimate load.
4. As r/f ratio increase it becomes
stiffer.
 Fig 10 is the failure mode and cracking
pattern of the slab with GFRP sheet central
opening.
GFRP sheets central opening with 10mm
diameter steel applying cyclic loading
which failed due to GFRP debonding
punching shear.
Fig 11 is the failure mode and cracking
Fig 8 is the failure mode and cracking pattern of the slab with GFRP sheet central
pattern of the slab with central opening. opening.

Central opening slab with 10mm GFRP sheets central opening with 14mm
diagram & failed due to flexure and diameter applying monotonic loading
punching shear. and failed due to GFRP debonding
punching shear.
Fig 12 is the failure mode and cracking
pattern of the slab with GFRP sheet central
opening.
GFRP sheets central opening with 14mm
diameter applying cyclic loading and
failed due to GFRP debonding punching
shear.
Fig 13 is the failure mode and cracking
pattern of the slab with GFRP sheet central
Fig 9 is the failure mode and cracking opening.
pattern of the slab with GFRP sheet central GFRP sheets central opening with extra
opening. steel provided of 10mm diameter
GFRP sheets central opening with 10mm applying monotonic loading and failed
diameter has applied monotonic loading due to flexure punching shear.
and failed due to GFRP debonding
punching shear.
3.2) Experimental and FE Study on RC
One-Way Slabs Upgraded with FRP
Composites:
In the following two tables we will see the
result of various type of slab and their
critical load, ultimate load, deflection at
centre, deflection at corner, stiffness, and
failure mode.

Axial stiffness per unit width of FRP

layers= no. of plies of FRP X thickness of
one FRP X tensile modulus of FRP;
Py= load at yielding of main steel;
Pu= ultimate load;
CC= concrete crushing;
IC-DB= intermediate flexural crack
induced debonding;
3.3) Flexural Strengthening of Defected
RC Slabs Using Strain-Hardening
Cementitious Composites (SHCC):
3.4) Flexural strengthening of RC one
way slabs with high-performance fibre
reinforced cementitious composite
laminates using steel and GFRP bar:
3.5) Low-velocity impact behaviour of
two way RC slab strengthening with
CFRP strips:

3.6) Performance of reinforced

concrete slabs strengthened with
different types and configurations of
CFRP:
3.7) Punching behavior of strengthened
and repaired RC slabs with CFRP:
3.8) Strengthening and repair of
circular RC slabs with openings using
CFRP strips under repeated loading: