| Summary: | It is not uncommon to provide openings in beams due to utility needs such as mechanical, electrical and sewerage passages. However, no clear guidelines are available in code of practice to handle beam web openings and presence of openings in beams changes behavior of Reinforced Concrete beam into a more complicated one. This research work investigates response of RC beam with openings under impact loading and proposes application of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites to restore lost beam performance due to the presence of web openings. 3D nonlinear finite element software LS-DYNA is used for model development, validation and parametric finite element analysis work. The accuracy of the nonlinear finite element models are verified using experimental results from literature. Further parametric studies are performed to optimize beam web openings on opening location, size and CFRP no. of layers and fiber orientation. Numerical results showed as compared to control, large opening cutouts in RC beam decreased impact resistance of a beam by 54%. Also, RC beam exhibited poor impact loading resistance close to loading point (mid span) and performed good near shear zone. As compared to control as-built RC beam, Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) composites strengthening reduced mid span deflection by 74% and improved beams brittle failure mode. Also, 900 fiber orientation complete wrapping resulted in reduction of shear cracking around opening however exhibited low overall impact resistance as compared with 0ºfiber orientation. © 2022 Penerbit UTM Press. All rights reserved.
|
|---|
