Alexandria Engineering Journal (2016) xxx, xxx–xxx

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Alexandria University

Alexandria Engineering Journal

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Flexural performance of RC beams strengthened

with near surface mounted CFRP strips
Ahmed M. Khalifa

Structural Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Egypt

Received 4 December 2015; revised 22 January 2016; accepted 27 January 2016

KEYWORDS Abstract The near surface mounted (NSM) fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement is
Flexural strengthening; emerging as a promising alternative strengthening technique to externally bonded reinforcement
Reinforced concrete beams; (EBR) for increasing the load carrying capacity of reinforced concrete (RC) members. NSM
FRP; FRP technique has several advantages, in comparison with the EBR method, such as reducing
NSM the risk of debonding, and a better protection from the external sources of damage. In this research,
the performance and effectiveness of the NSM and EBR techniques for the flexural strengthening of
RC beams are compared. In order to achieve this objective, six full-scale, RC beams were strength-
ened with different carbon FRP (CFRP) schemes and tested. Such beams were designed to fail in a
flexural mode. Test results indicated that if the same amount of CFRP is used, beams strengthened
with NSM strips achieved higher ultimate load than those strengthened with EBR. Such increase in
the ultimate load ratio ranged between 12% and 18%. Furthermore, a design approach for comput-
ing the moment capacity of RC flexural members strengthened with NSM CFRP strips is developed
and presented in this paper.
Ó 2016 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction to physical damage, fire, temperature variation, and ultraviolet

rays. In order to overcome these drawbacks, to improve uti-
The use of FRP materials for increasing and upgrading the lization of the FRP materials, and to ensure higher durability,
flexural capacity of reinforced concrete members has increased NSM technique was recently introduced as an alternative
considerably during the last few decades. FRP sheets and lam- strengthening technique to the EBR technique for increasing
inates are applied on the surfaces of the members required to flexural strength of reinforced concrete members [3–8]. The
be strengthened, using EBR technique. However, many NSM technique consists of inserting FRP strips into pre-cut
researches carried out on RC flexural members strengthened grooves through the concrete cover at the tension side of the
with EBR have indicated low efficiency of this technique, members to be strengthened. A high-strength epoxy adhesive
due to the premature FRP debonding failure [1,2]. Moreover, is used to bond the FRP strips to the concrete. This method
the FRP materials in the case of EBR technique are subjected is simple and considerably enhances the bond of the FRP rein-
forcements since both faces of the strips are bonded to the con-
crete. However, the available researches on strengthening RC
E-mail address: Khalifa2030@yahoo.com
flexural members using NSM strips are relatively limited in
Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria
University.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2016.01.033
1110-0168 Ó 2016 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Please cite this article in press as: A.M. Khalifa, Flexural performance of RC beams strengthened with near surface mounted CFRP strips, Alexandria Eng. J. (2016),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2016.01.033
2 A.M. Khalifa
comparison with those of EBR technique as reported in the
FIB [9] and the ACI-440.2R-08 [10].
In this study, the performance and effectiveness of the
NSM and EBR techniques for the flexural strengthening of
RC beams are discussed and compared. In order to achieve
this purpose, six full-scale, RC beams were strengthened with
different CFRP schemes and were tested under four point
loads. Such beams were designed to fail in a pure bending
mode.
In order to stipulate a suitable design procedure for NSM
technique, the design scheme for the moment capacity specified
in the ACI 440.2R-08 [10] was adopted. Moreover, a formula
is proposed to compute the maximum possible applicable
strain for the FRP material in the case of NSM technique.
The relationship between the effective strain of the NSM
CFRP strip and the equivalent reinforcement ratio proposed
by Barros and Kotynia [11] was modified using the available
test results and was used in the calculation of the ACI formula
for the moment capacity.
The objectives of this research study were as follows:
1. To discuss the performance and mode of failure of RC
beams strengthened with NSM and EBR CFRP strips.
2. To address the variables that may affect the flexural
strength of RC beams strengthened with NSM CFRP lam-
inates such as; CFRP amount and distribution.
3. To compare between the behavior of RC beams strength-
ened with NSM and EBR techniques.
4. To propose a formula to compute the maximum possible
applicable strain for the NSM FRP material.
2. Experimental program
2.1. Test specimens and materials
In this study, the test program includes casting, instrumenta-
tion, and testing six RC beams having a rectangular cross-
section. The cross section of all beams was 260 mm depth
and 150 mm width. The overall length of all beams was
2700 mm whereas the beam span was 2200 mm. the same steel
reinforcement was provided for all tested beams; the flexural
reinforcement consisted of two 12-mm diameter steel bars as
bottom reinforcement and two 12-mm diameter steel bars as
top reinforcement. For shear reinforcement; 10 mm diameter
stirrups with spacing 100 mm were used throughout the entire
beam length. The thickness of the concrete cover was 25 mm at
the lateral and upper faces of the beam and 35 mm at the bot-
tom side. The dimensions and details of the tested beams are
summarized in Fig. 1.
The CFRP strips used have a width of 50 mm and a thick-
ness of 1.2 mm. In order to insert the strip through the con-
crete cover, the strips were cut into two halves each had a
25 mm width.
The ultimate tensile strength and modulus of elasticity of
the CFRP strips used are 2800 MPa and 165 GPa, respectively
as given in the manufacturer technical data sheet (Sika Egypt).
The adhesive used to adhere the strips was two component
epoxy resin, selected fine-grain aggregates and special additives
mixed according to the instructions of the manufacturer. The
mechanical properties of the materials used for tested beams
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are listed in Table 1. Many variables were considered in the
experimental program such as: (a) FRP amount (i.e., two
strips or four strips); (b) FRP distribution (i.e., using one grove
or two groves); and (c) Laminate applications technique (i.e.,
NSM technique or EBR technique).
2.2. Strengthening configuration
The strengthening schemes for tested beams are presented in
Fig. 2. Beam B-C was tested in its original condition without
strengthening and therefore it is considered as the control
beam. Three beams were strengthened with NSM CFRP strips
and were tested to investigate their performance and modes of
failure. The installation of the NSM strips started by cutting
slits of about 25 mm depth and 25 mm width through the con-
crete cover of the beams using a diamond blade cutter. Pres-
surized air was then used to remove the dust from the
grooves to ensure a better adherence between the concrete sur-
face and the CFRP strips. Following that, each groove was
filled with epoxy adhesive and then the CFRP strip was
inserted into the groove and was pressed so the adhesive is
forced to completely fill the space between the strip and the
sides of the groove. The surface was then leveled and the excess
adhesive was removed. Beam B-N-1-2 was strengthened using
two NSM CFRP strips installed into one groove whereas
Beam B-N-2-2 was strengthened using two NSM CFRP strips
installed into two grooves (i.e., one strip in each groove). Beam
B-N-2-4 was strengthened using four NSM CFRP strips
installed into two grooves (i.e., two strips in each groove).
All Beams had the same strip dimensions and the same groove
size. Furthermore, two beams were strengthened using EBR
CFRP strips. Beam B-S-2 was strengthened using two EBR
CFRP strips whereas Beam B-S-4 was strengthened using four
EBR CFRP strips.
2.3. Test setup and instrumentation
All beams were simply supported and were tested to failure
under the effect of four point loads. A hydraulic jack of
1000 kN capacity was used to apply the load through a steel
distribution beam as shown in Fig. 3.
Three linear variable differential transformers (LVDTs)
were used for all tested beams to monitor the mid-span deflec-
tion. For all beams strengthened with CFRP strips, strain
gauges were attached to the CFRP strips at the mid length
of the strips and oriented in the longitudinal direction to mon-
itor CFRP strain. The load was applied incrementally up to
failure of each beam. At every load increment, the propagation
of cracks was observed and was marked. The deflections and
strains were recorded using a data acquisition system.
2.4. Test results and discussions
The performance and the effectiveness of NSM technique in
enhancing the flexural strength of the RC beams were compared
to those of the EBR technique. The effects of strips distribution
(one groove versus two grooves), and the CFRP amount are
presented. A summary of test results for all tested beams is pre-
sented in Table 2. The test results in terms of the relationship
between the applied load and the mid-span deflection for all
tested beams are shown in Fig. 4. The control beam B-C failed
Flexural performance of RC beams
(a) Longitudinal section for tested beams
2 T12
Stirrups T10 @ 100
2 T12
(b) Cross-section
All dimensions are in mm
Figure 1 Dimensions and reinforcement details for tested beam specimens.
Table 1 Material properties.
Material Dimensions Yield point
(mm) (MPa)
Concrete – –
Steel D = 12 400
reinforcement D = 10 350
CFRP strips t = 1.2 – –
at a load of 47.03 kN by concrete crushing after yielding of steel
reinforcement. The formation of the cracks followed a typical
crack pattern of flexural members as shown in Fig. 5. The first
visible crack was observed at the mid span at a total load of
about 10 kN. By increasing the loads, new flexural cracks started
to form and uniformly distributed along the full length of the
beam. The crack width increased with increasing the load up
to the beam failure.
All strengthened beams showed similar behavior as that
observed for the control beam up to cracking. After cracking,
the load deflection relationship of beams strengthened with
NSM CFRP strips was almost similar to that for beams
strengthened with EBR CFRP strips.
For beam B-S-2 strengthened with two EBR CFRP strips,
firstly vertical flexural cracks were observed at the mid-span
when the applied load reached about 15 kN. With further
increase in the load, the cracks continued to widen but the pres-
ence of CFRP reinforcement controlled the crack width in com-
parison with the control beam. The failure occurred at a total
applied load of 72.26 kN by debonding of CFRP strips at the
strip–epoxy interface. The debonding started from mid-span
and was followed by concrete crushing as shown in Fig. 6. It
should be noted that strengthening beam B-S-2 using two
EBR CFRP strips resulted in a 54% increase in the ultimate load
in comparison with that of the un-strengthened control beam.
The maximum measured FRP strain was 0.0048 mm/mm, which
represents about 28% of the ultimate strain of the CFRP. This
value is not absolute because it depends on the location of the
strain gauges with respect to the cracks.
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3
260
2200
2700
260
150
Compressive strength Ultimate tensile strength Modulus of elasticity
(MPa) (MPa) (GPa)
35 – 28
– 600 200
– 520 200
2800 165
In the case of beam B-S-4 strengthened with four EBR
CFRP strips, the formation and propagation of cracks were
similar to those of beam B-S-2. The failure occurred due to
debonding at the strip-epoxy and the epoxy–concrete inter-
faces starting from mid-span as shown in Fig. 7. It was fol-
lowed by concrete crushing at a load of 94.57 kN.
Strengthening Beam B-S-4 with four EBR CFRP strips
resulted in a 101% increase in the ultimate load in comparison
with that of the control beam. The maximum recorded CFRP
strain was 0.0048 mm/mm and represents 28% of the ultimate
strain of the CFRP. Comparing the results of testing Beam B-
S-4 to those of testing beam B-S-2, the amount of CFRP used
to strengthen beam B-S-4 was greater than that used for beam
B-S-2 by 100%. However, only a 31% increase in the ultimate
load was obtained. This means that there is an optimum
amount of FRP, beyond which the strengthening effectiveness
becomes questionable.
As a result of using NSM technique, a significant increase
in the load carrying capacity was observed due to the high uti-
lization of the bond strength of the CFRP reinforcement. In
the case of beam B-N-1-2 strengthened with two CFRP strips
in one groove, the maximum total applied load at failure was
85.25 kN, which is 81% and 18% higher than that of the con-
trol beam, B-C, and the beam strengthened with the same
amount of CFRP in the form of two EBR CFRP strips, B-
S-2, respectively. Therefore, the NSM strengthening technique
using CFRP strips is more effective than the externally bonded
one (EBR). It can be observed that the failure occurred at the
interface between the epoxy adhesive and the concrete, as
shown in Fig. 8. The maximum measured CFRP strain at
4 A.M. Khalifa

25 25
Epoxy
25 adhesive

Groove NSM CFRP Strip

25 x 15 2000 x 25 x 1.2

260
25

15
35
150 75 75
Beam (B-C) Beam (B-N-1-2)

Epoxy
adhesive
Groove NSM CFRP Strip
25 x 15 2000 x 25 x 1.2

25

15

EBR CFRP Strip

50 50 50 50 50 50
2000 x 25 x 1.2
Beam (B-S-2) Beam (B-N-2-2)

Epoxy
adhesive
Groove NSM CFRP Strip
25 x 15 2000 x 25 x 1.2

25

15

25 25 EBR CFRP Strip 50 50 50

100
2000 x 25 x 1.2
Beam (B-S-4) Beam (B-N-2-4)

All dimensions are in mm

Figure 2 Details of tested RC beams.

Load cell Load

Steel distribution beam

260

LVDT
250 1950 250
1950 300
2200
2700

All dimensions are in mm

Figure 3 Test setup.

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Flexural performance of RC beams 5

Table 2 Summary of test results.

Specimen Strengthening scheme Test results
No. of No. of Total Total area Maximum CFRP strain Maximum mid-span Total applied CFRP
grooves strips in no. of of CFRP measured at the ultimate deflection at the load at failure strengthening
each strips (mm2) load (mm/mm) ultimate load (mm) Pt (kN) effectiveness
groove ratioa (%)
B-C N/A N/A N/A – – 36.64 47.03 –
B-S-2 N/A N/A 2 60 0.0048 12.25 72.26 54
B-S-4 N/A N/A 4 120 0.0048 13.21 94.57 101
B-N-1-2 1 2 2 60 0.0097 22.55 85.25 81
B-N-2-2 2 1 2 60 0.0128 24.50 91.57 95
B-N-2-4 2 2 4 120 0.0059 17.35 105.56 125
a
Strengthening effectiveness ration = (failure load of the beam
failure load of the control beam)/failure load of the control beam.

Figure 4 Load versus mid-span deflection for tested beams.

Figure 6 Cracking pattern and debonding of CFRP strips at
failure for beam B-S-2.

In case of beam B-N-2-2 strengthened with two NSM

Figure 5 Crack pattern at failure for the control beam B-C.
failure was 0.0097 mm/mm, which represents 57% of the ulti-
mate CFRP strain. It should be noted that the measured
CFRP strain at failure for beam strengthened with NSM
strips, beam B-N-1-2, was higher than that for beam strength-
ened with EBR strips, Beam B-S-2, by about 102%.
CFRP strips installed in two grooves (i.e., one strip in each
groove), failure occurred by debonding at the epoxy–concrete
interface near the maximum moment region after extensive
cracking of the concrete at mid span as shown in Fig. 9. The
maximum total applied load was 91.57 kN, which is 95%
and 8% higher than that of the control beam, B-C, and that
of beam B-N-1-2, respectively. It should be noted that beam
B-N-2-2 was strengthened with the same amount of NSM
CFRP as that for beam B-N-1-2 (i.e., two NSM CFRP strips)
but the strips were inserted in two grooves instead of one. This
resulted in an increase in the ultimate load due to effect of
strips distribution. The maximum measured CFRP strain
was 0.0128 mm/mm, which represents 75% of the ultimate
strain of the CFRP.
Among all tested beams, it was found that the ultimate load
of beam B-N-2-4 was the highest. Such beam was strengthened
using four NSM CFRP strips. The ultimate load in this case
was 105.56 kN which is 125% higher than that of the control
beams, B-C. When comparing the results of beams B-N-2-4
and B-S-4, the amount of CFRP used to strengthen beam
B-N-2-4 was the same as that used for beam B-S-4. However,
an increase in the load carrying capacity of 12% was obtained.

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6 A.M. Khalifa

Figure 7 Cracking pattern and debonding of CFRP strips at failure for beam B-S-4.

Figure 8 Ultimate failure of beam B-N-1-2. Figure 10 Cracking pattern and peeling off of CFRP at failure
for beam B-N-2-4.

Figure 9 Cracking pattern at failure for beam B-N-2-2.

This means that using the NSM flexural strengthening tech- Figure 11 Load versus measured CFRP strain for tested beams.
nique is more effective than the EBR technique. It should be
noted that beam B-N-2-4 failed by peeling off of the CFRP
did not utilize the full tensile strength of the CFRP strips in
strips together with the concrete cover as shown in Fig. 10.
comparison with the NSM technique.
The maximum recorded CFRP strain at failure was
0.0059 mm/mm, which represents 35% of the ultimate CFRP
strain. 3. Design approach
The load-CFRP strain relationships for tested beams are
presented in Fig. 11. The maximum measured tensile strain In order to develop a design approach for the flexural members
was 0.0048 and 0.0128 for the EBR CFRP strips and the strengthened with NSM technique, the model of the moment
NSM CFRP strips, respectively. This means that EBR system capacity specified in the ACI 440.2R-08 [10] was adopted.

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Flexural performance of RC beams 7

The moment capacity of the strengthened flexural member
was expressed in the following form:
Mn ¼ As fs ½ds
b1 C=2 þ wf Af ffe ½h
b1 C=2
where Mn is the nominal bending moment, As and Af are the
cross sectional areas of the longitudinal steel reinforcement
and FRP respectively, fs is the ultimate steel tensile stress, ffe
is the effective ultimate tensile stress of the FRP, h is the total
depth of the beam, ds is the effective depth of the steel rein-
forcement, c is the position of the neutral axis, and
wf = 0.85 is a safety factor, and b1 is an parameter given in
Section 10.2.7.3 of ACI 318-02 [12]. However, the formulation
for the effective strain level in the FRP at ultimate, efe was
expressed in the ACI 440.2R-08 [10] as follows:
efe ¼ ecu ½ðdf
cÞ=c
ebi  efd
where ecu is the maximum acceptable concrete compressive
strain (=0.003), df is the effective depth of FRP reinforcement,
ebi is the initial strain of the concrete substrate, and efd is the
upper limit of the FRP strain level at which debonding may
occur. This can be obtained from the following equation in
the case of EBR:
efd ¼ 0:41 ðfc0 =nEf tf Þ
0:5
 0:9 efu
where fc0 is the specified compressive strength of concrete, n is
the number of plies of FRP flexural reinforcement, tf is the
thickness of the FRP material, Ef is the modulus of elasticity
of FRP materials, and efu is the FRP rupture strain.
For the NSM technique, the ACI 440.2R-08 [10] has indi-
cated that the value of efd may vary from 0.6 efu to 0.9 efu
depending on many factors such as member dimensions, steel
and FRP reinforcement ratio, and surface roughness [13,14]
and recommended using efd = 0.7 efu. Moreover, the analysis
found in the available researches for flexural members strength-
ened with NSM technique indicates that efd/efu decreases with
the increase of the equivalent reinforcement ratio, ql,eq [15], that
can be obtained from the following equation:
ql;eq ¼ As =ðb ds Þ þ ðAf Ef =Es Þ=ðb df Þ
where b is the beam width, and Es is the Young’s modulus of
the steel reinforcement. The relationship of the efd/efu, and ql,eq
has been proposed by Barros and Kotynia [11] and was taken
ð1Þ
from the analysis of the experimental results of beams and
slabs strengthened with NSM strips. This relationship has been
represented by the following equation:
efd =efu ¼
29:965ql;eq þ 0:9342 ð5Þ
In this study, modifications are proposed to improve the
Equation proposed by Barros and Kotynia [11] to include results
of new tests of beams and slabs strengthened with NSM strips.
The proposed modified relationship of efd/efu and ql,eq was
calibrated using the available 60 test results, shown in
Fig. 12 [14–29]. It can be observed from the results presented
that there is a tendency for a decrease of efd/efu with the
ð2Þ increase of ql,eq. The relationship was established and is
expressed as follows:
efd =efu ¼
27:77 ql;eq þ 0:9174 ð6Þ
The value of efd obtained from the above Equation may be
used in the design scheme of ACI 440.2R-08 [10] as an upper
limit of strain in the FRP at ultimate load instead of the con-
stant value of 0.7 efu.
ð3Þ Moreover, the available researches also indicate that efd/efu
decreases with a decrease in the distance of the FRP strip to
the edges of the beam and with a decrease in the distance
between FRP strips [14,15]. Furthermore, the geometry of
the slit and the properties of the adhesive materials may also
have some influence on the value of the efd/efu ratio. However,
insufficient research results are available to perform a quanti-
tative estimate of the influence of these variables on the varia-
tion of the efd/efu ratio.
3.1. Comparison between test results and those obtained from
proposed equation
The comparison between the calculated values of efe/efu esti-
mated from the ACI 440.2R-08 [10] equations for tested beams
ð4Þ
B-N-1-2, B-N-2-2, and B-N-2-4 and the upper proposed limit

1
J.Y Kang et al.[14]
J. Barros et al.[15]
0.9
fd/ fu = 29.965 l,eq + 0.9342 J. Barros et al.[16]
Wael et al.[17]
0.8
Moon et al.[18]

0.7 Eliane et al.[19]

J.G Teng et al.[20]
0.6 Joseph et al.[21]
Abdelkrim et al.[22]
fd/ fu

0.5 Ibrahim [23]

A.Fortes [24]
0.4 fd / fu = 27.77 l,eq + 0.9174 F.Ferreira et al.[25]
A.Carolin [26]
0.3 E.Bonaldo et al.[27]
K.Tan et al.[28]
0.2 E Bonaldo et al[29]
J. Barros Eq.[11]
0.1 Proposed Eq.

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3
l,eq (%)

Figure 12 Relationship between efd/efu and the equivalent reinforcement ratio ql,eq.

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8 A.M. Khalifa

Table 3 Comparison between calculated values and proposed Recommendations for future research are as follows:
limit of efd/efu.
It is recommended to consider the following for future
Specimen Experimental results Calculated Proposed research:
value of equation for
– A wider experimental database is needed to confirm the
efe/efu the upper
limit of efd/eu
trends indicated by the present study.
Eq. (6) – Some parameters that may affect the performance of
Total Applied NSM FRP technique such as the edge distance, the dist-
applied bending ance between two adjacent slits, the geometry of the slit,
load at moment at the properties of the adhesive materials, and the thickness
ultimate ultimate Mu of the adhesive layers, should be investigated.
Pt (kN) (kN m)
B-N-1-2 85.25 40.5 0.593 0.69
B-N-2-2 91.57 43.49 0.68 0.69
B-N-2-4 105.56 50.14 0.44 0.65 Acknowledgment

of efd/efu (Eq. (6)) is presented in Table 3. The comparison indi-
cates that the proposed equation for the upper limit of efd/efu
gives conservative results for tested beams in comparison with
the experimental results.
The test program presented in this study was carried out at the
Reinforced Concrete Laboratory of the Structural Engineering
Department at the Faculty of Engineering – Alexandria
University. Thanks are due to all of the laboratory’s staff for
their assistance throughout the test program.
References

4. Conclusions and recommendations for future research
An experimental investigation was conducted in order to com-
pare and to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of the
NSM and EBR techniques for the flexural strengthening of RC
beams. Six beams were casted and tested through the experi-
mental program. A design approach for flexural members
strengthened with NSM technique was developed using the
moment capacity model specified in the ACI 440.2R-08 [10].
Based on this study, the following conclusions can be
drawn:
1. The ultimate load carrying capacity of beams strengthened
with NSM CFRP strips was higher than that for beams
strengthened with EBR CFRP strips having the same
amount of CFRP materials with a percentage ranged from
12% to 18%. This is due to the higher bond strength of the
CFRP strips in the case of NSM technique. The NSM
CFRP strips have double the bonding area compared with
the EBR CFRP strips.
2. Increasing the amount of CFRP strips not necessarily
results in a proportional increase in the flexural capacity
of the RC member especially if debonding of CFRP strips
controls the failure.
3. Using the same amount of NSM CFRP Strips, and dis-
tributing the strips in two grooves instead of one leads to
a significant reduction in the crack widths and an increase
in the ultimate load.
4. Failure of beams strengthened with EBR CFRP strips is
controlled by debonding at the strip–epoxy or the epoxy–
concrete interfaces.
5. For beams strengthened with NSM CFRP strips, failure is
controlled by debonding of CFRP strips and peeling off of
the CFRP strips together with the concrete cover.
6. The suggested design approach may be used efficiently for
computing the moment capacity of RC flexural members
strengthened with NSM CFRP strips.
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