Shear Strengthening Reinforced Concrete Beams with Externally bonded Fiber-Reinforced Polymer: Updated Data Base SAMER BARAKAT, SALAH ALTOUBAT, EMAN AL BURAI Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Sharjah University City, Sharjah UAE sbarakat@sharjah.ac.ae http://www.sharjah.ac.ae Abstract: - This paper deals with the shear strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) beams with externally bonded fiber reinforced polymer (EBFRP) composite. Its objectives are to update the existing data base related to the shear strengthening of RC beams with EBFRP from the published literature. Investigate the different parameters that affect the shear strength of EBFRP reinforced concrete beams and capture better interaction among various influencing parameters. About seven hundred tests of beams with EBFRP were collected from the published literature and tabulated in an updated database. The interactions among the parameters related to the type and properties of the FRP, fiber orientation as well as the strengthening scheme, the shear and the longitudinal steel reinforcement ratios, the shear span ratio, and the geometry of the member that influence the shear behavior of these members are investigated. As a result of this investigation the collected database is refined and the existing design model (ACI 440.2R-08) is reviewed and conclusions are drawn. Key-Words: - beam; FRP; reinforced concrete; shear; strength. 1 Introduction As The tremendous studies in recent years that have been directed toward understanding the behavior of concrete structures strengthened with externally bonded fiber-reinforced polymer (EBFRP) have resulted in valuable findings that incorporated into various national design guidelines such as ACI 440.2R-08, 2008, Canadian CSA-S806-02, 2002, and European fib-TG9.3, 2001, Bulletin14, 2001; CNR-DT 200/2004, 2004. However and despite of this large number of research studies for EBFRP members strengthened in shear, the theoretical calculations using the developed models and the experimental results are not in a good agreement and scarce and sometimes controversial. The behavior of strengthened RC members in shear is complicated and affected by several interacting parameters such as, type and properties of the FRP, fiber orientation as well as the strengthening scheme, the strength and composition of the concrete, the shear and the longitudinal steel reinforcement ratios, member geometry and size, the shear span ratio, the type of applied loading, and FRP linear behavior in tension up to failure versus concrete and steel nonlinear behavior. Also, the complexity of the RC shear problem is increased by the addition of FRP composite strengthening materials that introduces a new set of variables related to the FRP composite, properties, behavior, systems and configurations. The aim of the research presented in this papers is to better understand the behavior in shear of EBFRP reinforced concrete beams. To achieve this aim three individual objectives are defined as follows: a) to update the existing data bases related to the shear strengthening of RC beams with EBFRP from the published literature, b) to bring together the most used existing models and investigate the different parameters that affect the shear strength of EBFRP reinforced concrete beams, c) to Develop using MRA models that predict the shear strength of beams with EBFRP and capture better interaction among various influencing parameters. 2 Research Significance The extensive experimental studies on EBFRP shear strengthened beams that have been carried out during the last three decades and focused on exploring the effectiveness of EBFRP shear S. Barakat et al. International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics http://www.iaras.org/iaras/journals/ijtam ISSN: 2367-8992 142 Volume 1, 2016