Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Post Notching Size and Location on the Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Beam before and after Strengthening

Some structural concrete projects suffered from post-casting changes or modifications to accommodate pipe services due to inefficient initial planning or management. This study aims to evaluate the performance of a reinforced concrete beam with dimensions of 300 mm x 600 mm x 3800 mm for width, height, and span length, respectively. Notches were made at various locations on the face of the support, with various notch depths. A nonlinear parametric three-dimensional (3D) finite element model was developed in Abaqus to evaluate the structural behavior of models subjected to notching with a fixed width of about 150 mm and a length equal to the beam width (or 300 mm). The study covered two main parameters: notch locations at three distances from the face of support (1d,2d, and 3d), and notch depth (0.5d and 0.75 d). Several parameters were adopted as evaluation criteria, including maximum load-carrying capacity, stiffness, ductility, and toughness. Results revealed that the most critical location occurs when the notch distance is three times the beam's clear span, compared to other cases. Also, a notch depth of 0.75d in some locations has a slight effect compared with a notch depth of 0.5d. A steel strip jacket was introduced as an enhancement modification, with a specific configuration for all studied parameters, and showed comparable efficiency to the unnotched beam model.