Preventing debonding through shear of tension face plated concrete beams

The technique of increasing the flexural strength of reinforced concrete beams by gluing plates to their tension faces has been popular for more than two decades. However, the load carrying capacity of such strengthened beams can be heavily curtailed by premature peeling of the plates at their ends. This is because of the formation of diagonal shear cracks due to increased vertical shear loads. A study has been undertaken to improve the shear peeling strength of such soffit plated beams by gluing additional plates to the sides. Predictive equations have been developed to account for the increase in shear peeling strength due to the glued side plates.