Experimental research on the instantaneous and long-term deflections of pre-cracked concrete beams enhanced by carbon fibre reinforced polymer

Abstract

This paper aims to disclose the influence law of cracks on instantaneous and long-term deflections of reinforced beam. For this purpose, four concrete beams were created, pre-loaded to varied degrees of cracking, and reinforced with carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP). Then, a 300-day load test was carried out on these samples to measure the instantaneous and long-term deflections. The experimental results show that the pre-cracking degree has little influence on instantaneous deflection; whether a beam is pre-cracked or intact, the final deflection of the beam is mostly affected by its initial deflection before the reinforcement; the pre-cracking degree is negatively correlated to the magnitude of additional deflection under sustained load. The research findings lay the basis for judging whether a reinforced beam can be used normally in the long run.

Keywords

• Carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP)
• Pre-cracked beams
• Creep
• Long-term deflection