Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Shear Strengthening of Simply Supported Deep Beams Incorporating Stainless Steel Plates

In this study, the effectiveness was investigated of shear strengthening techniques in reinforced concrete (RC) deep beams incorporating stainless steel plates (SSPs). Four RC deep beams were tested under incremental static loading until failure to examine the proposed strengthening techniques. The key parameters considered in this study included the arrangement of the externally bonded SSPs. The experimental findings demonstrated that strengthening using SSPs led to substantial improvements in their performance compared to the unstrengthened control beam. The use of SSPs increased the ultimate shear capacity by 129 to 175% over the control specimen. Finite element models (FEMs) were developed to simulate the responses of the tested beams strengthened using SSPs. Parametric studies were then conducted using the validated FEM to investigate to identify the effects of the area of SSPs on the shear capacity of the beams. The parametric studies concluded that increasing the plate thickness resulted in the enhanced shear capacity of the deep beam specimens up to a critical point upon which the increases in the thickness have insignificant effects on the shear strength. The accuracy of the design equations given by European and American codes in predicting the shear strength of the deep beams is examined.