Flexural behaviour of reinforced concrete beams retrofitted using CFRP strips

Many reinforced concrete bridges were constructed in Alberta (Canada) using precast reinforced concrete girders. Currently, most of those girders need immediate rehabilitation. A rehabilitation technique has been adopted to enhance the flexural capacity of the bridge girders using CFRP strips/sheets. However, when some of these girders were tested in flexure, the effect of the strips was to increase the capacity by 10–15%. Despite that, the currently available model, which is based on the conventional strain compatibility concepts, predicted an increase of 25–50%. Thus, the reliability of this model in predicting the capacity of CFRP retrofitted girders is open to question. An experimental programme was performed on full-scale HC-Type girders dismantled form a real bridge in Alberta. The girders were retrofitted using CFRP strips and sheets. The flexural behaviour of the retrofitted girders is investigated and their failure mode is examined.