Behavior of RC Beams Strengthened Using Steel-Wire-Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Plates

The steel-wire-carbon-fiber-reinforced plate (SCFR plate) is a relatively new strengthening technology for concrete structures. In this paper, a series of lateral impact tests on SCFR plates and conventional carbon-fiber-reinforced plates (CFR plates) were first performed, followed by tensile tests of both the SCFR plates and the CFR plates. It is found that the SCFR plates can provide the same level of tensile strength as CFR plates, whilst having evident advantages in terms of better ductility and lateral resistance. It is also found that increasing the amount of the steel wire can improve the lateral resistance of the SCFR plate. In addition, the SCFR plate shows the advantage of a reduction in lateral damage, which is commonly experienced by CFR plates during transportation, construction, and maintenance. In the second stage of the research, flexural tests of both SCFR and CFR plate-strengthened reinforced concrete (RC) beams were performed. The failure modes and crack patterns of the RC beams were investigated. Results show that the SCFR plate-strengthened beam exhibits enhanced ductility compared to that strengthened by traditional CFR plates, thereby enhancing the flexural capacity of the RC beams. On the basis of the test results, a formula is designed to predict the flexural capacity of SCFR plates; good agreement is achieved.