Shear capacity prediction of carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer mesh fabric (CFRP-MF) stirrups reinforced concrete beams

Fibre-reinforced polymer mesh fabric (FRP-MF) is an effective substitute for normal steel stirrups in concrete to prevent steel corrosion in reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Nevertheless, methods for calculating the shear resistance of RC members rehabilitated in shear with FRP-MF configurations are lacking. Moreover, the methods for quantitative analysis of the shear contribution caused by the cracking control effect produced by CFRP-MF longitudinal FRP strips are unclear. In this paper, a mechanics-based segmental model is presented based on partial interaction analysis considering both transverse FRP strips and longitudinal reinforcements. By incorporating the carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer mesh fabric (CFRP-MF) stirrups into this model, a shear strength model was proposed and extended for design purposes in a closed form. In addition, the modified compression field theory (MCFT) model considering the shear strength of concrete in compression and the shear friction model (SFM) in the literature were appropriately modified and used for comparison with the segmental model. It should be noted that if the tensile strength of the longitudinal strips was added into the corresponding calculation formulas, it would cause the difference between the proposed novel models with the previous models. Finally, the shear strength of 14 CFRP-MF reinforced concrete beams were evaluated using these three models. The average ratios of the experimental values of the CFRP-MF RC beams to the shear capacity predicted by the modified segmental model, MCFT with the shear contribution of compressed concrete and SFM were 1.30, 1.19 and 1.19, respectively. It turns out that the modified mechanics-based segmental model yields the minimum discreteness based on the experiment results. This study can provide shear capacity calculation and design reference of RC beams with longitudinal FRP strip reinforcements for researchers and engineers.