article · Case Studies in Construction Materials
Deep reinforced concrete beams containing openings often suffer from premature shear failure. Strengthening these beams with externally bonded galvanized corrugated steel sheets or galvanized flat steel sheets around the openings substantially improves their structural performance. Experimental testing on ten beam specimens with circular or square openings of various sizes demonstrated that adding galvanized steel alters the failure mode away from premature shear failure. The strengthened beams demonstrated higher initial stiffness, enhanced energy absorption capacity, and increased ultimate load resistance compared to unstrengthened beams. Complementary finite element simulations in ABAQUS matched experimental results and enabled parametric assessments of plate thickness and opening dimensions. The analysis confirmed that shear strength increases as plate thickness rises, and identified an opening ratio of 0.33 as an optimal parameter for structural configurations.
Utility installations often require openings cut into deep reinforced concrete beams, which weakens structural integrity and can trigger sudden shear collapse. Demonstrating that readily available corrugated and flat galvanized steel sheets can effectively reinforce these weak zones offers structural engineers practical options to preserve beam strength and safety in buildings without resorting to complex rebuilds.
The findings are relevant to structural retrofitting contractors, civil engineering design practices, and building materials suppliers seeking practical reinforcement techniques for concrete infrastructure. Tested through physical laboratory specimens and validated numerical simulations, the method represents applied engineering research with clear guidance, such as recommended opening ratios, though real-world commercial deployment will require verification within broader construction standards and site conditions.
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This study investigates the behavior of deep reinforced concrete beams with openings strengthened using galvanized corrugated steel sheets (GCSS) and galvanized flat steel sheets (GFSS). An experimental program was conducted on ten deep beam specimens with different opening configurations, strengthened by externally bonded GCSS and GFSS around the openings. The key test parameters are different types of galvanized steel sheets (corrugated and flat) and different opening configurations (circular and square) with different opening sizes. It is found that the application of galvanized steel alters the mode of failure of the strengthened beams compared to the unstrengthened beam which failed due to premature shear failure. The deep beams strengthened with galvanized steel sheets exhibited higher initial stiffness, energy absorption capacity, and ultimate loads compared to the control beam. Finite element modeling (FEM) using ABAQUS software was performed to simulate their experimental behavior and the prediction accuracy is examined against the test results. A parametric study using the validated FEM is carried out to examine the influence of the thickness of the galvanized plates and opening size ratio on the shear strength of the deep beams. The findings reveal that shear strength increases with the increase of the plate thickness and an opening ratio of 0.33 is recommended for practical applications of deep beams strengthened with galvanized steel sheets.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.cscm.2024.e03522
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