Shear strengthening of simply supported deep beams using galvanized corrugated sheet filled with high-performance concrete

Abstract

Reinforced concrete deep beams (RCDBs) are vulnerable to brittle shear failure and can cause the beams to fail diagonally. This study investigates the effectiveness of shear-strengthening techniques in RCDBs by using galvanized corrugated sheets (GCS) filled with high-performance concrete (HPC). Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC), strain-hardening cementitious composites (SHCC) otherwise known as high-strength ECC (HSECC), and ultra-high-performance engineered cementitious composites (UHPECC) were utilized as filling materials for the corrugated steel sheets. A total of ten RCDBs were tested under static loading until failure to investigate two key parameters: type of filling materials (ECC, HSECC, and UHPECC) and the configuration of the externally attached galvanized corrugated sheets (vertical, horizontal, and inclined). The experimental results demonstrated that the the strengthening method proposed can significantly improve the failure modes of RCDBs, and increase ultimate shear strength compared to the unstrengthned control beam. The strengthened beams exhibited an increase in their first cracking and ultimate loads of up to 126% and an increase of their energy absorption capacity by 506% compared to the control beam. Additionally, numerical analyses were conducted to model the structural behavior of RCDBs strengthened by GCS filled with HPCs and compared to the test results.