Behaviour of Full Scale Reinforced Concrete Beams Strengthened with Textile Reinforced Mortar (TRM)

With increase in use of fibres for strengthening of Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams, Textile Reinforced Mortar (TRM) is becoming a popular choice among the researchers and scientists. While Carbon, glass and PBO fibers have shown encouraging results for structural strengthening, use of basalt fibres have not been much explored for strengthening other than masonry. Limited small-scale data exists for the use of basalt fibres in TRM strengthening but data for full scale beams is scarce. This paper presents an experimental study of six full scale RC beams tested with a varying shear span to depth (a/d) ratio 3 through 6, where three beams served as control beams for various a/d ratios while the remaining three beams were strengthened with TRM using basalt fibres. TRM was provided at the tension face of the beams for strengthening in flexure along with U-shaped wraps. Results showed that TRM using basalt fibres is effective in improving the performance of RC beams in terms of serviceability, crack and deflection control, load carrying capacity, initial and post cracking stiffness, and ductility.