Abstract :
This paper aims to study the effect of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) strengthening techniqueson the fatigue limit of Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams. An accelerated fatigue method was utilizedto find the fatigue limit based on the hypothesis of linear cumulative damage as determined bythe Palmgren-Miner rule. Six RC beams with dimensions of 152.4152.41,520mm were testedunder monotonic and cyclic loading using a four-point bending configuration: two non-strengthenedRC beams, two RC beams strengthened with Near Surface Mounted (NSM) CFRP rods, and two RCbeams strengthened with Externally Bonded (EB) CFRP sheets. Strengthened RC beams had less stiffnessdegradation and more energy dissipation when compared to the non-strengthened RC beam.The NSM CFRP technique demonstrated a better monotonic flexural strength than the EB CFRP technique.NSM CFRP rods and EB CFRP sheets increase the fatigue limit when compared to the nonstrengthenedRC beam by 19% and 33%, respectively.
