The Intematlonal Joumal of Cement Composites and Lightweight Concrete, Volume I0o Number2

May 1988

The analysis of reinforced concrete

beams strengthened by epoxy bonded
steel plates
O. Vilnay*

Synopsis An analytical method for the elast.c analysis of the interaction between a concrete beam and a
steel plate bonded to it by epoxy adhesive is presented. The shear and the peehng distnbuted forces reduced
into the epoxy are formulated. It ~sobserved that large shear and peeling dtstnbuted forces are induced into the
epoxy at a small reg=onat the edges of the steel plate The cases where large tensde distributed peeling force
os mduced, are dtscussed
Keywords Elasticanalys=s, compostte beams, repa=rs, strengthening, epoxy bonded steel plates, adhesive
strength, peehng forces, shear stress, compostte construction, beams (supports), adhesives, epoxy resins,
shear strength

NOTATION

$1, $2

A
a

t
w~, w2

constant
the dtstance between the steel plate and
the support
B
constant
D
numencal factor
Eb, Ec, Es
modulus of elasticity of adhestve, concrete
and steel
F
pomt load
G
adhesive shear modulus
g
adhesive width
half of the thickness of the concrete beam
hi
half of the thickness of the steel plate
h2
second moment of mert0a of the concrete
Ic, le
beam, steelplate
K
numencal constant
L
span of the beam
I
length of the steel plate
bendmg moment of the concrete beam,
M1, M2
steel plate
N
axtal force
P
external point load
Pl. P2. Pmax distributed peeling force, assoc=ated with
F. associated wtth ~1
numerical factor
Go
dtstnbuted shear force
q. qr~x
d=stributed load
* Department of CMI and Structural Engmeenng. UntversttyCollege.
Card,ff
ReceNed 9 May 1987 Accepted 22 December 1987
~) Longman Group UK Ltd 1988
0262-5075/88/10201073/$02.00

'

Eb
Es

shear of the concrete beam, steel plate

adhesave thickness
deflection of concrete beam, steel plate
numencal factor
stram at the bottom of the concrete beam
due to bendmg
strain at the top of the steel plate due to
ax=al force
shear stress

INTRODUCTION
The method of strengthening concrete elements by
bondmg steel plates to the concrete surface by epoxy
resms in sttu has been developed recently. Much work
was done in the development of the glueing technique,
and m experimental study of the behavlour of the
structural elements strengthened by epoxy bonded steel
plates. The knowledge of the mteractlon between the
steel plate and the concrete structural element, and the
stress induced =ntothe epoxy bond, is important for the
evaluation of the behavlour of the strengthened structural element. The effect of the properties of the adhesive,
steel and concrete and their geometrical parameters on
the structural behavlour of the strengthened element 0s
also essential for its design.
In thts work an analyt.cal method for the analysis of
the mteraction between the concrete beam and epoxy
bonded steel plate =s presented. Much work has been
carr.ed out on the study of the shear distnbuted forces
induced into the bond. The cases of composite beams [1,
2], composite beams and plates [3], and alummlum
beams reinforced by carbon fibre reinforced plastics [4]
were cons0dered. In thts work the shear distributed

73

Theanalysis of reinforced concrete beams strengthened by epoxy bonded steel plates

Wlnay

Figure 1
The strengthened concrete
beam

Vl~

L.

r I
_1

r--

AI

d i m e n s i o n s in mm

forces as well as the peehng d~stnbuted forces are

investigated and their elastic analytical formulation is
presented It ~s shown that large peehng d~stnbuted
forces are associated w~th the shear dlstnbuted forces
The cases where the peehng is tensile and compression
dtstnbuted forces are discussed The large tensile peelmg dtstnbuted forces has an ~mportant contnbut~on to
the failure of the strengthened concrete beam

THE SHEAR DISTRIBUTED

M~ + M2 = P (x + a)/2

(6)

$1 + $ 2

(7)

= q

=P/20<x~<l/2

By using simple beam theory the deflection w~ and w2 of

the concrete and steel beams takes the form
~2w 1
Ec I c ~
= -M1
(8)
Sx2

LOAD

The case of a concrete beam reinforced by steel plate as

shown m Figure 1 is studied The equlhbrlum of a
dtfferentlal section of the beam with the reinforcing steel
is shown in F~gure 2 Shear distributed forces q as well as
distributed peehng forces are acting between the concrete beam and the steel reinforcement Equdtbnum of
the horizontal forces tmphes
8N

In the case where the beam ts loaded by a point load P at

the centre

~2W 2

Es I s ~
= -M2
Sx2

(9)

in which Ec, Es, Ic and Is are the concrete elastic modulus,

the steel elastic modulus, the concrete beam second
moment of area and the steel second moment of area
The peehng dlstnbuted force is a function of the
difference between w2 and w~ and the adhesive
properties

(1)

p = K(w2 - wl),
K = Eb g/t

Sx

(10)

Equihbnum of the vertical forces imphes

8S1
5x
8S2
5x

= -p

(2)

= p

(3)
-

8x
~M2
8x

74

-~q
- = t~b - ~ G g

8x

The equ0hbnum of the moments implies

8M~

m which Eb, g and t are the elastic modulus, width and

thtckness of the adhesive The shear dlstnbuted force is
related to the difference in the stratus at the bottom of
the concrete beam ~b and the top of the steel beam ks

= St - qhl

(4)

= $2 - qh2

(5)

(11)

in which t, G and g are the bond thickness shear modulus

and w~dth It is assumed that the strata at the bottom of
the concrete beam is due to the bending.
M1 hi
I~b = ~
Ec Ic

(12)

Theanalysts of reinforced concrete beams strengthened by epoxy bonded steel plates

---

SI

]!

"

"

Figure 2
A differential element of the
beam

. x,x

. -96SI d x / M !

"~P

Wlnay

~M

dx~

6_%
S2 + T x

+ 5MI

6hi dx
N+ ~X
M 2 + ~ xM2 dx

and at the top of the steel beam is due to the axial force"
N

s = ~
Es As

(13)

By using (12) and (13), equation (11) takes the form

8q
Gg M1 hi
N
. . . .
(-- )
(14)
8x
t
Ec Ic
Es As
It =s assumed that the shear due to the external load is
carried by the concrete beam only:
S~ = P/2; $2 = 0

(15)

By using equations (15) and (14), the effect of the peeling

distributed forces on the deflection of the concrete beam
can be ignored; equation (14) takes the form
82q
t
hi 2
1
P hi
....
g(
+ ~ )
+--~
= 0
(16)
8x2 Gg
Eclc
EsAs
2 Eclc
The solution of equation (16) takes the form"
Phi
q -- A cosh kx + B cosh Xx + ~
2Ec IcD
where,
X = V D G g/t
hi 2
1
D = ( ~ + ~ )
Ec Ic
Es As
hi 2
1
<
In practical cases where
Ec Ic
E, A,
1
D ==

(17)

The values of A and B are determined by using the

bonding condmtmon The condmtlon q = 0 at x = I/2 implies,
Phi

Xl

A = - B tanh~ 2

2 Ec Ic D cosh

By using the condition M, =

Pa
2

kl

(19)

and N = 0 at x = 0,

equation (14) implies:

GgPahl

B =

(20)

2t Ec Ic ).
By using equation (19) and (18). equation (17) takes the
form
q=

GgPahl
2t Ec Ic X

((tanh

- slnh Xx) +

Xl

Xl
ak cosh-2

) cosh X x (21)

Phi Gg
2 Ec Ic ~.2t

In the case where Xl/2 is very large, equation (21) takes

the form
q = qo (aXe -xx + 1)

(22a)

where

E, As

qo =

Phl"Es As

Gg

Ec Ic
The maximum dmstnbuted shear force msat x = 0"

t EsAs

qn',ax ---- qo (a~. + 1)

(18)
)~==/

In the case of a reinforced concrete beam strengthened

by epoxy bonded steel plate. 1/X indicates the length in
which the large shear stress at the edges drops to its
average magnitude

(22b)

(23)

75

Theanalysis of reinforced concrete beams strengthened by epoxy bonded stee/ plates

V~lnay

THE PEEUNG DISTRIBUTED FORCES

By using equations (3), (5) and (9) in the case where w2 ~>
Wl, equation (10) takes the form:

IC

8q

Es Is 84 w2 K w2 8 x4 +
- 8X h2

(26)

Equatton (26) ~s the beam on elasttc foundation equation

m whmch ~'x h2 ts the load. Thts load ts composed of two

point loads F at the edges

F = qmax h2 = qo (aX + 1) h2

(27)

and a dlstnbuted load

CI = - qo a X.2 h2 e -xx

(28)

I
!

l/x,

:%.

as shown =n F=gure 4.

In the case where the beam is very long

Figure 3 The distributed shear forces

1
I~>-

~/

In the case where aX is very large, equation (23) takes the

form
P h l a x / / ~ g Es As
qr~,x = qo aX = ~
Ec Io
t

(24)

13 =

K
4Es Is

(29)

1/1~ mdtcates the length m which the large peehng stress

at the edge of the adhes=ve drops to a small magnitude
The peeling dtstnbuted stress assoctated wtth F, Pl takes
the form

The shear stress associated wtth qmax takes the form

Pl =
P hla J . G Es As

~max

Ec Ic

(25)

gt

K qo (aX + 1) h2o_p x
cos 13x
2 133 Es Is

K qo h2 a~.2

A typ0cal dtstribut0on of the distributed shear force in the

case where a = 10/), ts shown in Figure 3 It Is easBly
noted that the large distributed shear force at x -- 0 dtes
out according to the magnitude of ~.. In the case where ),
=s very large, tt d~es out very raptdly

P2

--

Es Is (X4 + 4~ 4)
X2

qMax h2

76

qMox h2
L

(31)
X

Figure 4
The beam on elastic
foundation

Elo=tic f o u n d o t i o n ~

p_

(30)

j- i

Theanalystsof reinforced concrete beams strengthened by epoxy bonded steel plates

P/IX>!

Vilnay

Pmax = 2 h2 6 (5 a>, 64 Jr- 464 Jr" ~.4 _ 2 aX.263 )

qmax
(X4 + 464) (aX + 1)

1.0

(35)

In the case where ak is very large, equation (35) takes the

form"
Pmax
qmax

2h2 6 4 (513 - 2X)

(X4 + 4134)

(36)

It can be seen that m the cases where 13~" k equation (35)

takes the form:
Pmax
.... 2.5 h2 6
qmax

0.5

(37)

where [B = ~,

lip

Pmax
--=
qmax
and where 6 < X

~/p

Prnax
qmax

Figure 5 The distributed peeling force

By using equations (30) and (31) the dlstnbutmg peehng

force takes the form:
K qo h2 5aX 6 4 "{" 464 + k 4
P = Pl +P2 = - (
) e -I~ cos 13x
Es Is
263 (X4 + 464)
(32)

X ~> 2.5 6

P = Poe - ~ cos 6,

(33a)

5K qo h2 aX

(33b)

8 Es Is 133

A typical distnbution of the dzstributed peehng force =s

shown =n Figure 5. It can be noted that the large tensile
dtstnbuted peeling force at x -- 0 does out very rapidly and
changes into small compression distributed peehng
forces and the speed of change depends on 13and )~.
The maximum peehng stress at x = 0 takes the
form"
Kqoh2

E,, I,

5 aX 64 + 464 + X4 - 2 aX.263
(

263 (~.4 + 464)

(34)

By using equations (23) and (34), the relatzonsh0p

between the maximum peeling d0stnbuted load and the
maximum shear distributed force takes the form"

(39)

(40)

In most pract,cal cases 6 ~> >- and thus the maxzmum

peeling distributed force is tenszon and takes the form
(41)

The maximum peeling stress assoctated with Pmaxtakes

the form"
ermax =

In the case where ~> >. equation (31) takes the form.

Prnax =

~.3

Pmax = 2 5 qo a h2 ~, 13
e -p" cos ~x

~.4 Jr- 464 e-X')

Po =

4 h2 64

(38)

Equat=ons (37) and (38) md=cate the cases of large tensile

dastributed peeling forces whereas in the case gwen by
equation (39) large compression distributed forces are
md=cated The peehng stresses are compressive =n the
cases where:

ax 4

2132 ()4 + 464)

a}k2

1 2 h2 IE}

25plhla
Ec Ic

2 4 / / 3 G2EsEbh2
t 3 g2

#8

(42)

DISCUSSION A N D C O N C L U S I O N S
In the previous pages the shear and the peeling dlstnbuted forces reduced into the bond of concrete beams
strengthened by epoxy bonded steel plates were formulated It Is shown that the maximum shear and peeling
stresses appear at the edges of the steel plates and they
drop quickly. The speed of the drop is associated with
two parameters X and 6 given by equations (17) and (29)
As the cross-section area and the second moment of
area of the steel plate and the adhesive thickness
increases, the drop is slower whereas as the width and
the elastic modulus of the adhesive are increased, the
drop is faster. The maximum shear stress mcreases as
the bond, the distance of the strengthening steel plate
from the support of the beam, the cross-section area of
the steel plate and the shear modulus of the adhesive
increases. It decreases as the adhesive w0dth and
thickness increases. The peeling stress increases as the
shear stress and the steel plate thickness mcrease.

77

Theanalysis of reinforced concrete beams strengthened by epoxy bonded steel plates

It was shown that the maximum peeling stress can

be tension or compression according to the relationship
between k and IE}.Large tensile peeling stress is of malor
~rnportance m the case of concrete beams strengthened
by epoxy bonded steel plate The increase in the pnnclpal
tension m the concrete due to the tensde peehng stress
causes the fadure of the beams
The existence of large tensde peeling stress ~s
clearly demonstrated ~n a series of tests carned out on
concrete beams strengthened by epoxy bonded steel
plates [5] The fact that often the steel plate is warped
away from the concrete as shown m figures 9, 10, 11 and
12 of Ref. 5, and the honzontal cracking at the wcln~ty of
the steel plate edges, indicate the large tensile stress
reduced into the concrete by the peehng stress In these
beams X. is found to vary between 0 01 1/mm to 0 04
1/mm, 1558 kN/mm 2 < K < 3 8 9 kN/mm 2 and 027
1/mm < 13 < 0 0 7 1/mm Because k < 2 5 (3 the
maximum peeling stress m these beams ~s always
tension The magmtude of the maximum tensile distributed forces vanes from 0 1 qmex to 2 2 qmax

78

W/nay

REFERENCES
I Stess, C P, 'Composite construction for Nghway
bridge floors', Proceedings, American Society of
Civil Engineers, Vol 74, March 1948, pp 331-53
2 Newmark, N M 'Tests and analysis of composite
beams with incomplete interaction', Proceedings,
Society of Experimental and Stress Analysis, Vol 9,
No 1, June, 1951, pp 75-92
3 Johnson, R P 'Loss of interaction ,n short-span
composite beams and plates', Journal of Constructional Steel Research Vol 1, No 2 January 1981,
pp 11-6
4 Tutt, F J H 'Fibrerelnforced materials', Conference
Proceedings, Institution of C~vll Engineers, London,
1977
5 Swamy, R N, Jones, J, Bloxham, J W , 'Structural
behav~our of reinforced concrete beams strengthened by epoxy-bonded steel plates', The Structural
Engineer, Vol 65A, No 2, February 1987, pp 59-68