Behavior of Lightweight Reinforced Concrete Concavely-Curved Soffit Beams Strengthened with CFRP

Abstract The main goal of this research is to investigate how curvature influences the performance of concavely curved soffit lightweight reinforced concrete (LWRC) that has been strengthened with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets. This program conducted tests on a total of eighteen LWRC beams using a two-point load, namely a monotonically load. From these beams, thirteen had a concavely curved soffit beam with different degrees of curvature ranging from 30 mm/m, 40 mm/m, and 50 mm/m. Additionally, there were five prismatic beams, among which four were un-strengthened (reference). The beams were specifically designed to fail through flexural failure. The study includes a discussion of the beams’ load-carrying capacity, failure mode, cracking patterns, and load mid span deflection. The experimental results showed that as the curvature degree increased from 30 to 50 mm/m, the load-carrying capacity reduced by 2.59-12.15%, as compared with the prismatic beams. Additionally, the test results indicate that the utilization of CFRP sheets for strengthening beams significantly increased the strength of the beam specimens. The ultimate load capacity exhibited an increase ranging from 15.53-38.19%, as compared to the reference beams. The theoretical value for the strengthened beam was estimated using ACI 440.2R-23 and then compared to the experimental value obtained from the test.