EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE BEHAVIOR OF RC T BEAMS STRENGTHENED WITH EXTERNALLY BONDED CFRP MOHAMMED DHEYAA AL-TAMEEMI 1 & R. K. PANDEY 2 1,2 Department of Civil Engineering, Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture Technology & Sciences, Deemed University, Allahabad, India 1 Kerbala University, Kerbala, Iraq ABSTRACT Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) application is a very effective way to repair and strengthen structures that have become structurally weak over their life span. In this study experimental investigation on the behavior of RC T-beams strengthened using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets are carried out. Reinforced concrete T beams externally bonded with CFRP sheets were tested to failure using a symmetrical two point static loading system. Six RC T-beams were casted for this experimental test. All of them were having same cross section, total length of 1800 mm and same reinforcement detailing. Beam 1 was used as a control beam and other five beams were strengthened using different configurations of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets.Beam 2 is strengthened only at the bottom face from end to end. Beam 3 is also strengthened only at the bottom face but for the length L/3 to 2L/3. Beam 4 is strengthened only at the bottom face for the length L/3 to 2L/3 but using double layer of CFRP. In Beam 5 the web part is strengthened for the length L/3 to 2L/3 with U-Jacketed single layered CFRP. In Beam 6 the web part is strengthened throughout its length with U-Jacketed single layered CFRP. Experimental data on load – deflection curve, load failure and failure modes of each beams were obtained. The experimental results show that externally bonded CFRP can increase the load failure and improvement in stiffness for beams. KEYWORDS: Fiber Reinforced Polymers, CFRP, Reinforced Concrete T Beams, Deflection, Load Failure, Strengthening, Epoxy INTRODUCTION The external bonding of high-strength Fiber Reinforced (FRP) to structural concrete members has widely gained popularity in recent years, particularly in rehabilitation works and newly builds structure. Comprehensive experimental investigations conducted in the past have shown that this strengthening method has several advantages over the traditional ones, especially due to its corrosion resistance, high stiffness-to-weight ratio, improved durability and flexibility in its use over steel plates. Moreover, these materials are less affected by corrosive environmental conditions, known to provide longer life and require less maintenance. The need for rehabilitation or strengthening of bridges, building and other structural elements may arise due to one or a combination of several factors including construction or design defects, increased load carrying demands, change in use of structure, structural elements damage, seismic upgrade, or meeting new code requirements. These factors may cause the infrastructure structurally inefficient and sometimes responsible for making the structures functionally obsolete. Before the introduce of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) strengthening technologies, one popular technique for upgrading reinforced concrete beams was the use of external epoxy-bonded steel plates (Swamy et al., 1987; Hamoush and Ahmed, 1990). In recent years, FRP sheets have shown great promise as an alternative to steel plates for concrete structure repair or strengthening. Swiss researchers pioneered work on the use of International Journal of Civil, Structural, Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering Research and Development (IJCSEIERD) ISSN 2249-6866 Vol. 3, Issue 4, Oct 2013, 73-80 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.