Vertical shear capacity partial interaction modelling of transversely plated RC members with steel stirrups

Abstract

A proven technique for increasing the vertical shear capacity of reinforced concrete beams is to bond FRP strips to the sides of the beam with the fibres orientated in the transverse or vertical direction. The FRP acts as external stirrups resisting vertical shear in the same way as the conventional internal steel stirrups. However, internal steel stirrups are ductile as they are both fully anchored and can yield, which is in contrast to external FRP stirrups that can debond in a brittle fashion and do not yield. Hence, there is no guarantee that the peak vertical shear forces that can be resisted by the steel stirrups and by the transverse FRP plates coincides. In this paper, a partial-interaction numerical model is described that is used to illustrate the vertical shear interaction between transverse FRP plates and steel stirrups.