Composite Structures 77 (2007) 493508

www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct

Failure diagrams of FRP strengthened RC beams

Bo Gao a, Christopher K.Y. Leung b, Jang-Kyo Kim
a

a,*

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, China
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, China
Available online 30 September 2005

Abstract
Amongst various methods developed for strengthening and rehabilitation of reinforced concrete (RC) beams, external bonding of
bre reinforced plastic (FRP) strips to the beam has been widely accepted as an eective and convenient method. The experimental
research on FRP strengthened RC beams has shown ve most common modes, including (i) rupture of FRP strips; (ii) compression failure after yielding of steel; (iii) compression failure before yielding of steel; (iv) delamination of FRP strips due to crack; and (v) concrete
cover separation. In this paper, a failure diagram is established to show the relationship and the transfer tendency among dierent failure
modes for RC beams strengthened with FRP strips, and how failure modes change with FRP thickness and the distance from the end of
FRP strips to the support. The idea behind the failure diagram is that the failure mode associated with the lowest strain in FRP or concrete by comparison is mostly likely to occur. The predictions based on the present failure diagram are compared to 33 experimental data
from the literature and good agreement on failure mode and ultimate load has been obtained. Some discussion and recommendation for
practical design are given.
2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Failure mode; RC beam; Strengthen; Diagram; Fibre reinforced plastic

1. Introduction
Infrastructure repair and rehabilitation has become an
increasingly important challenge to the concrete industry
in recent years. Upgrading structural load capacity is a substantial part of the rehabilitation market, and seismic retrot of concrete components in earthquake regions is now
becoming a mainstream. As a combined result of structural
rehabilitation needs, strengthening and rehabilitation of
concrete structures have become the industrys major
growth area. Amongst various methods developed for
strengthening and rehabilitation of reinforced concrete
(RC) beam structures, external bonding of bre reinforced
plastic (FRP) strips to the beam has been widely accepted
as an eective and convenient method. The main advantages

Corresponding author. Tel.: +852 2358 7207; fax: +852 2358 1543.
E-mail address: mejkkim@ust.hk (J.-K. Kim).

0263-8223/$ - see front matter 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2005.08.003

of FRP include high strength and stiness, high resistance

to corrosion and chemicals, as well as light weight due to
low density. The retrotting can be applied economically,
as there is no need for mechanical xing and surface preparation. Moreover, the strengthening system can be easily
maintained.
Signicant progress has been made based on experiments, theoretical analysis, and numerical simulation to
demonstrate that the bonding of FRP strips to the tension
sot of reinforced concrete beams can improve much the
ultimate exural strength and stiness, although some
reduction in ductility of the beam is caused. In strengthening reinforced concrete beams with FRP strips, dierent
failure modes have been observed [13]. Generally speaking, there exist six distinct failure modes (see in Fig. 1),
as described in the following:
(i) Compression failure before yielding of steel: the concrete crushes in compression (i.e., the strain in the
concrete exceeds the ultimate value of 0.0035) before

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B. Gao et al. / Composite Structures 77 (2007) 493508

Fig. 1. Failure modes of FRP strengthened RC beams: (a) compression failure; (b) rupture of FRP strips; (c) shear failure; (d) delamination of FRP strips;
and (e) concrete cover separation.

yielding of reinforcing steel and fracture of FRP

strips;
(ii) Compression failure after yielding of steel: the reinforcing steel yields due to tensile exure. This is followed
by crushing of the concrete in the compression zone,
before the tensile rupture of the FRP strips;
(iii) Rupture of FRP strips: the FRP strips rupture at the
ultimate strain following the yielding of reinforcing
steel rebar in tension;

(iv) Shear failure: the shear cracks extend from the vicinity of the support to the loading point, when the shear
capacity of the beam is exceeded;
(v) Delamination of FRP strips: delamination of CFRP
strip occurs rather catastrophically in an unstable
manner, with a thin layer of concrete residue attached
to the delaminated FRP sheets. The crack initiates
from the end of FRP strips or the bottom of a exural
or shear/exural crack in the concrete member;

B. Gao et al. / Composite Structures 77 (2007) 493508

(vi) Concrete cover separation: after crack initiation at the

CFRP strip end, the CFRP strip is gradually peeled
o with lumps of concrete detached from the longitudinal steel rebar.
These modes can be divided into two general categories,
namely exural failures and local failures. The exural failures include compression failure before yielding of steel,
compression failure after yielding of steel and rupture of
FRP strips; shear failure, delamination of FRP strips and
concrete cover separation belong to local failures. Flexural
failure modes are a typical of those encountered in conventional concrete beams, and, therefore, the perception on
failure mechanism and analytical methods for these failure
modes have already been successfully established.
Although FRP rupture without yielding of steel reinforcement is sometimes regarded as a kind of exural failure
mode, it is unlikely to occur unless the steel in tension is
located very near the centre of beam. In most exural equations in the literatures for design recommendations, the
most preferred failure mode to be designed for is compression failure following yielding of steel reinforcement. Rupture of FRP strips following yielding of steel reinforcement
is also acceptable. In comparison, compression failure
before yielding of steel should be avoided as far as possible.
In the above, the steel reinforcement mostly refers to steel
rebar in tension. The yielding of tension steel rebar can
ensure the formation of large exural cracks, which provides warning before ultimate failure.
Shear failure is caused generally by low shear reinforcement due to relatively large stirrup spacing. It may also occur when only exural strengthening is applied, because the
FRP strips along the bottom of reinforced concrete beams
does not improve the shear strength of beam remarkably. It
is found out that, however, restoring or upgrading beam
shear strength using side FRP strips can result in increased
shear strength and stiness by substantially reducing shear
cracking [46]. Many parameters including reinforcement
conguration (U strip, side strip, full wrap), FRP orientation, the use of mechanical type anchors, concrete strength,
steel shear reinforcement and shear span to depth ratio [7
9], have been studied. Generally speaking, shear failure can
be eliminated by the appropriate shear strengthening of the
beam as mentioned above, and it is not to be discussed in
the following sections.
In the delamination of FRP strips, the bond between the
FRP strip and the concrete fails in a sudden manner as a
result of the catastrophic propagation of a crack along
the FRP concrete interface. In general, several reasons
may cause this failure, such as: (a) technical aws including
imperfections in the spreading of the adhesive and signicantly uneven concrete tensile faces; (b) exural and exural/shear cracks in the concrete that result in horizontal
interface cracks developed from the bottom tip of the exural cracks; and (c) high shear and normal stress concentration at the end of FRP due to discontinuity [10]. Correct
preparation and operation can avoid aforementioned tech-

495

nical aws. To analyse the initiation of failure at the end of

FRP strips, a number of models are available. These include closed-form high order analytical models to solve
for stress distributions [11,12], shear-capacity-based models
[13,14], and interfacial stress-based models [1517]. However, experimental results show that, delamination along
the concrete/FRP interface is most likely to occur from
exural and exural/shear cracks. High stress concentration at the end of FRP strips may induce concrete cover
separation instead of delamination. Therefore, only delamination resulting from the exural and exural/shear cracks
on the tensile side is considered in the following, and the
existing analytical models will be discussed.
Concrete cover separation is a very common failure
mechanism observed in experimental work. For this failure
mode, a crack initiates in the vicinity of one of the FRP
plate ends, then develops to the level of the tension steel
reinforcement, and propagates horizontally towards the
mid span along the steel rebar. It is noticed that in the process many shear/exural cracks are developed in the concrete cover forming tooths between the cracks. Based
on this mechanism, many theoretical models have been
built.
From the design point of view, the relationship and the
transition guideline among the various failure modes have
to be understood. Currently there are very few papers that
study the varying trend of failure mode in terms of the
change of strengthening parameters (e.g., FRP thickness,
FRP length, etc.), and identify which failure mechanism
is dominant for the beam design. The objective of this paper is to build a diagram showing the relationship and the
transition among dierent failure modes for RC beams
strengthened with FRP strips, and how failure modes vary
with FRP thickness and the distance from the end of FRP
strips to the support. The failure mode prediction diagram
is useful in establishing an FRP material selection procedure for external strengthening of RC beams. A review of
previous theoretical models for these failure modes is given
rst, and appropriate expressions are chosen for failure
mode prediction. A step-by-step procedure to establish
the failure mode diagram is also presented. Furthermore,
a design example is provided to demonstrate the applicability of this approach. The applicability of the approach will
then be veried with a signicant number of experimental
results. Finally, some discussions and recommendations
for practical design are given.
2. Theoretical expressions for various failure modes
2.1. Flexural failure modes
To date, numerous exural design equations have been
produced, and also existing research suggests that the ultimate exural strength of FRP strengthened RC beams can
be predicted using existing RC beam design approaches
with appropriate modications to account for the brittle
nature of FRPs [2,10,16,1823]. Some similar assumptions

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B. Gao et al. / Composite Structures 77 (2007) 493508

in exural strength design equations are (a) plane section

remaining plane after bending; (b) zero tensile strength in
concrete; (c) adhesive being omitted; and (d) the perfect
bonding between the concrete and FRP plate.
Fig. 2 shows the cross section of a rectangular beam subjected to bending and the resultant strain distribution along
the depth of the beam as well as a simplied equivalent
rectangular stress block. Notice that d 0 , d, and df denote
the depths of compressive steel, tensile steel and FRP
strips, respectively; As and A0s are the area of tensile and
compressive steel reinforcement; bc and bf are the width
of concrete and FRP strips; and x, h, and h 0 are the depth
of the neutral axis, concrete beam, and concrete cover,
respectively. In addition, ec, es, e0s , and ef are the strains of
concrete, tensile steel rebar, compressive steel rebar and
FRP strips, respectively. With the reference to Fig. 2, the
internal force components related to concrete and FRP
strips are:
C c a1 fc0 bc xb1 ;
T f E f e f Af ;

1
2

where a1 (the ratio of the uniform stress in the rectangular

compression block to the maximum compressive strength)
and b1 (the ratio of the depth of the rectangular compression block to the depth to the neutral axis). Dierent values
of a1 and b1 are dened as follows. El-Mihilmy and Tedesco [2] set a1 and b1 to be 0.85 and 1:09  0:008fc0 , respectively. In Ng and Lee [23], the adopted values are 0.67 and
0.9 for a1 and b1. Considering the eect of compressive
concrete strength on these two factors, Chaallal et al. [19]
dened a1 and b1 as follows:
a1
b1

0:85  0:0015fc0
0:97  0:0015fc0

P 0:6;
P 0:6;

3
4

which are also recommended in this paper.

Since there are three main exure failures, two balanced
limited values of cross section area of FRP are employed,
Af,min and Af,max. If Af < Af,min, the rupture of FRP strips
mode can dominate. If Af,min < Af < Af,max compression
failure after yielding of steel must take place. If Af > Af,max,
compression failure before yielding of steel is to occur.
In the calculation of Af,min, ec = ecu(0.0035) and ef = efu
(the fracture strain of FRP) are assumed to happen simul-

taneously. As the failure mode transitions from FRP rupture to compression failure, dierent expressions for
Af,min can be obtained for dierent compressive steel
conditions,
hecu
;
5
ecu efu
a1 fc0 bc xb1 Es e0s A0s  fy As
x  d0
< esy ;
; e0s 0:0035
Af;min
Ef efu
x
6

Af;min

a1 fc0 bc xb1 fy0 A0s  fy As

x  d0
P esy .
; e0s 0:0035
Ef efu
x
7

In the calculation of Af,max, ec = ecu (0.0035) and es = esy

(the yielding strain of tension steel) are assumed to occur
simultaneously. As the failure mode transitions from
compression failure after yielding of steel to compression
failure before yielding of steel, Af,max for dierent compressive steel conditions, can be obtained as follows:
decu
df  x
;
8
; ef 0:0035
x
ecu esy
a1 fc0 bc xb1 Es e0s A0s  fy As
x  d0
Af;max
< esy ;
; e0s 0:0035
E f ef
x
9

Af;max

a1 fc0 bc xb1 fy0 A0s  fy As

x  d0
P esy .
; e0s 0:0035
E f ef
x
10

Although the main objective of this failure diagram is to

show the relationship and the transition among dierent
failure modes, it can also predict the ultimate exural
strength of FRP strengthened RC beams. Only brief
descriptions for expression are presented in Appendix A.
2.2. Delamination of FRP strips
Besides the end of FRP strips, exural and exural/
shear cracks are also possible locations for delamination
to occur. While the beam is loaded, these cracks tend to
open and may induce high interfacial shear stress, thus
resulting in crack propagation along the interface. Com-

Fig. 2. Cross section dimensions with strain distribution and stress diagram.

B. Gao et al. / Composite Structures 77 (2007) 493508

pared to the existing stress analysis for delamination from

the end of FRP, not much research has been carried out for
delamination initiating from cracks.
Triantallou and Plevris [10] suggested that the failure
was due to vertical (v) and horizontal (w) concrete crack
openings, which were resulted from the dowel action and
aggregate interlock mechanisms. Also, it was assumed that
the dowel deformation in the longitudinal steel and the
FRP at the crack location were primarily due to shear.
Therefore, when the shear force reached a critical value,
the failure occurred as follows:
v
V cr
Gs As Gf bf tf .
11
w cr
With the equation, the corresponding load capacity could
be obtained. Nevertheless, (v/w)cr that was a characteristic
property of the FRP-concrete bond, was not supported by
necessary experimental results.
In the study by Buyukozturk and Hearing [1], it was
shown that exural cracks in large moment region could
initiate interfacial fracture in shear mode, and exural/
shear cracks in mixed shear and moment region could induce mixed mode fracture. With the concept of fracture
mechanics, when the strain energy release rate reaches the
interfacial fracture resistance, failure takes place. The critical strain energy release rate can be measured with the single lap test.
Normal and shear stress distributions along the interface
between concrete and FRP have been studied in many papers. Of note is that the normal stress perpendicular to the
plate under exural cracks is compression due to bending.
Since compressive normal stress cannot lead to delamination, only shear stress under the cracks was responsible
for delamination [24]. At the two sides of a crack, the maximum shear stress smax at the adhesive/concrete interface
can be calculated if the longitudinal stress in FRP plate is
known [17]. An approximate equation for smax is given
by [20]
r
Ga tf
smax
ff ;
12
Ef ta
where the ff was the axial stress in the FRP plate.
A theoretical framework was developed to analyse the
delamination at the location of a exural crack in the beam
[24]. A fracture mechanics analysis was applied to get the
relationship among M (moment), a (crack length), and w
(crack mouth). The iterative calculation gave rise to M
for a given crack size. Then, the maximum shear stress concentration at the crack could be obtained from
smax

wG
.
2ta

13

By repeating the computation for various crack sizes, the

relationship between smax and M could be established.
It was shown that crack induced delamination of FRP
had much in common with debonding failures observed
in the simple shear test [25]. In the literature, several bond

497

strength models based on the fracture mechanics have been

developed [26,27]. By modifying these models and with the
empirical tting of experimental data, the following expression was obtained by Teng et al. [25]:
s
p
Ef fc0
;
14
rf;max 1:1bf
tf
s
2  bf =bc
bf
15
1 bf =bc
in which rf,max was the maximum tensile stress permitted in
FRP plate. 1.1 is a factor that will provide the best t to
experimental results. When the tensile stress in FRP strips
reaches rf,max in a strengthened RC beam subjected to
bending, FRP debonding occurs. Obviously, with known
rf,max, the maximum moment or load capacity of the beam
can be calculated. Since this model can provide reasonable
prediction while being simple for practical use, it is employed in this paper.
2.3. Concrete cover separation
In an eort to identify the strength of a strengthened RC
beam failed by concrete cover separation, many studies
have bean carried out and several analytical models were
formulated. In general, two categories of analytical theoretical solutions exist, including interfacial stress model
and tooth model. For interfacial stress model, most papers
attempt to predict the stress distribution along the interface
between FRP and concrete, especially stress concentration
at the end of FRP. A simplied and approximate analytical
model to produce the shear and normal stress concentrations at the cut o point of FRP strips was developed by
Roberts [15]. Actually, this model has been widely accepted
by many researchers, and equations based on its modication were given in many studies [3,28]. Also, the papers by
Malek et al. [17] and Saadatmanesh and Malek [20] developed a methodology based on the linear elastic behaviour
of the material and compatibility of deformation to predict
the interfacial stresses. Moreover, other analytical models
considering more information, such as orthotropic material
properties, have been developed [29,30]. Elastic models are
usually not accurate in predicting the failure load [25].
Also, some elastic models are cumbersome and not suitable
for hand calculation. In fact, for concrete cover separation,
an inclined concrete crack is always observed to form at the
plate end before the ultimate loading is reached in the
experiments. This means that the elastic analysis is no longer
valid when failure is approached.
On the other hand, using the concept of concrete tooth,
tooth-based models have been developed [31,32]. A concrete tooth is a part of the concrete cover between two
adjacent cracks. It deforms like a cantilever under the action of horizontal shear stresses at the bottom of the concrete beam. Concrete cover separation was deemed to
occur when the tensile stress at the root of the tooth

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B. Gao et al. / Composite Structures 77 (2007) 493508

exceeded the tensile strength of concrete. Knowing the minimum crack spacing, the critical shear stress can be determined by using conventional cantilever beam theory,
based on the above failure criterion. Herein, the critical
shear stress is assumed to act over an eective length determined from empirical tting of experimental data. Then,
from stress equilibrium of the FRP plate over the eective
length, the limited maximum tension stress in FRP can be
calculated, and thus the ultimate load or moment of the
strengthened beam can be obtained. A major limitation
of the approach is that the cantilever length (i.e., the concrete cover depth) is very short compared with its height
(which is the minimum crack spacing). As a result, the conventional cantilever beam theory employed to obtain the
relation between the tensile stress at the root of the tooth
and the applied shear stress is not valid.
In the following, a new model is proposed to predict the
failure of the concrete tooth. This analytical expression was
developed for predicting the stress concentrations in concrete near the tension rebar closest to the cut o point of
the FRP strip, and then obtaining the load capacity based
on a specic failure criterion. The following assumptions
were made: (i) linear elastic and isotropic behaviour for concrete, FRP, epoxy, and steel reinforcement, (ii) perfect
bonding between concrete and FRP strips, and (iii) linear
strain distribution through the full depth of the section with
cracked concrete. The methodology is implemented in two
stages: (I) prediction of the tensile stresses in the FRP strips
at the curtailments and corresponding shear stress at the
location of steel bar in tension assuming full composite action; and (II) solving the stress concentrations caused by reverse tensile force of FRP strips at the curtailment location
due to the cut o of FRP strips, and comparing the superposed stresses with the concrete strength. In the second
stage, the nite element method (FEM) is employed to obtain accurate stress proles in the model, and a statistical
analysis of experimental results gives rise to a modication
factor that will lead to accurate predictions.
In the rst stage, if considering the full composite action
and elastic behaviour, the tensile stress of FRP strips at the
curtailment location, ff0, can be obtained from conventional beam theory as
ff0

M0
h  x.
I

16

Herein, I is the cracked transformed moment of inertia of

beam cross section in terms of the FRP plate, and M0 is
the bending moment at the plate curtailment location.
The shear stress in concrete near the tension rebar closest
to the cut o point of FRP strip, sI0 , is
sI0

V0
h  xbf tf ;
Ibc

(tf represents the thickness of FRP strips) is applied, to the

end of FRP plate as shown in Fig. 3. As shown above, one
can expect that many cracks appear in the tension side of
the beam. The crack spacing model for conventional reinforced concrete is extended for calculating the minimum
stabilised crack spacing, lfmin in the case of RC beams with
externally bonded FRP plate, as presented below:
lfmin

us

Ae f t
.
Obar uf bf

18

for
In this equation, us and uf is the average bond strength
P
steel/concrete and FRP/concrete, respectively.
Obar is
the total perimeter of the tension bars, and Ae is the p
area

of concrete inptension.
Also,
one
can
take
u

0:28
fcu
s

and uf 0:28 fcu . Indeed, the results are found not too
sensitive to the exact value chosen for the parameter uf.
In this model, W is an empirical function obtained from
empirical tting of experimental results. It is found that a
complete quadratic equation of W in terms of Lfs/L and
bf/bc, as given in Eq. (19) below, will give the best agreement with test results.
W 3:527  35:827  Lfs =L  4:972  bf =bc 240:124
 Lfs =L2 3:080  bf =bc 2  1:635  Lfs =L
 bf =bc ;

Lfs =L 6 0:1

19

in which, Lfs and L represent the distance from the end of

FRP to the support and total span length, respectively. The
comparison between predicted and experimental values for
39 strengthened beams, with and without the modication
factor W, are shown in Fig. 4. The details of selected samples are presented in Gao et al. [33]. From the gure, it is
clear the modication factor is necessary to obtain good
agreement between predicted and experimental results.
Under the applied force in Fig. 3, we assume that complete shear stress transfer between FRP and concrete takes
place over lfmin , the concrete cover block nearest to the end
of FRP strips. When the individual concrete block at the
end of FRP strips is subjected to a force (Wff0bftf), the vertical normal stress and shear stress in concrete near the tension rebar closest to the cut o point of FRP strips in stage
II
II, rII
0 and s0 , can be calculated. As mentioned, the cantilever beam length is too short compared to its depth for the
conventional cantilever beam theory to be valid. Therefore,
the nite element method (FEM) is applied to obtain rII
0
and sII
0 . The rectangular cover region (one piece of tooth)
between two cracks is modelled, and a unit force is applied
at the end of FRP strips for convenience. rII;unit
and sII;unit
,
0
0
the vertical normal and shear stresses for a unit force in

17

where V0 is the shear force at the plate curtailment

location.
In the second stage, since the axial stress ff0 at the end
of FRP does not actually exist, an opposite force, Wff0bftf

Fig. 3. Analysis in stage II with opposite axial force in FRP strips.

499

2.0
Without modification factor

1.5

With modification factor

1.0

0.5

0.0
Ga1
Gb1
Gb2
MB3
MB4
MB5
RHB5
RHB6
FKF5
FKF6
FKF7
FKF10
B2
B4
B6
A1c
A2b
A2c
1U,1.0m
2U,1.0m
1Au
1Bu
1Cu
2Au
2Bu
2Cu
3Au
3Bu
3Cu
B
C
AA3
AA4
AA5
SM6
A950
A1100
A1150
NB2

Predicted / experimental failure load ratio

B. Gao et al. / Composite Structures 77 (2007) 493508

Specimens collected
Fig. 4. The comparison of predicted and experimental results, with/without modication factor.

stage II, can be obtained. We have attempted to solve the

problem with three dierent models: (i) a 3D model with
the FRP and adhesive considered (Fig. 5(a)), (ii) a 2D model
with the FRP and adhesive considered (Fig. 5b), and (iii) a
2D model neglecting the presence of adhesive and FRP,
with loading applied directly onto the concrete (Fig. 5c).
The results indicate that as long as an appropriate modication factor (obtained from empirical tting) is used with
the nite element results, each of the models can predict
failure loads in good agreement with experimental data.
For convenience, we have decided to adopt the simplest
model (Fig. 5c) for further analysis. More details on the
models and comparisons with test results can be found [33].

In practical design, it is inconvenient to run nite element analysis every time. A better alternative is to provide
equations for, rII;unit
and sII;unit
, the stresses resulted from a
0
0
unit load applied on the plate end, based on a series of nite element analysis. From the geometry of the problem,
it is clear that the stresses are a function of lfmin =h0 , where
lfmin is the minimum stabilised crack spacing and h 0 is the
depth of concrete cover. Moreover, the stress for a unit applied load must be inversely proportional to the width of
the beam (bc) as well as the cover depth h 0 . For a larger
cover depth, if lfmin =h0 is xed, the same loads is applied
to a larger member, so the stress will decrease proportionally. Summarizing the above, one can write the stresses per
unit load in the following form:
lf

rII;unit
0

F 1 min

h0

0 ;
bc h

s0II;unit

F 2 min

h0

0 ;
bc h

20

lf

21

where bc and h 0 are dimensionless that are the relative ratios to 1 m. Through a systematic nite element analysis,
the functions F1 and F2 can be numerically obtained. In
practical design, with the known values of lfmin , bc and h 0 ,
the F1 and F2 values can be calculated from the following
statistical equations:
 f 2
f 
l
lmin
lfmin

3:7292

6 3;
F 1 0:6054  min

9:4324;
h0
h0
h0
22a
lfmin
> 3;
22b
h0
 f 2
f 
l
lmin
lfmin

0:7387

6 3;
F 2 0:1197  min

1:7982;
h0
h0
h0
F 1 3:7;

23a
Fig. 5. FEM models for predicting rII;unit
and s0II;unit : (a) 3D with FRP;
0
(b) 2D with FRP; and (c) 2D without FRP.

F 2 0:66;

lfmin
0
h

> 3.

23b

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B. Gao et al. / Composite Structures 77 (2007) 493508

The complete solutions for the vertical normal and shear

stresses in concrete near the tension rebar closest to the cut
o point of FRP strips (r0 and s0), can be determined by
superposition
M0
;
h  xbf tf rII;unit
0
I
V0
M0
s0 sI0 sII
h  xbf tf W
.
h  xbf tf sII;unit
0
0
Ibc
I
r0 rII
0 W

24
25

The failure criterion for concrete cover separation failure is

that when the maximum principle tensile stress r0,1 in concrete near the tension rebar closest to the cut o point of
FRP strips is greater than the ultimate tensile strength of
concrete ft, failure occurs. r0,1 can be obtained by the classical stress transformation equations for a plane stress
condition

r
r0
r0 2
2
r0;1
s0 .
26
2
2
And ft was dened in ACI code 318-95 (1999) as follows:
p
27
ft 0:53 fc0 .
If a strengthened RC beam is subjected to four point bending, M0 and V0 in terms of the totally applied load, 2P, are
given
M 0 PLfs ;

V 0 P.

28

view, the thickness of FRP is a sensitive and important factor that will aect the ultimate failure mode. With gradually increasing FRP thickness to strengthen a RC beam,
the probable order for failure occurrence is rupture of
FRP, delamination of FRP, concrete cover separation
and then compression failure. As a result, it is reasonable
to set thickness of FRP (tf) as a variable, which inuences
the ultimate failure mode. Another important variable is
the distance from support to cut o point of FRP strips
(Lfs), although only concrete cover separation failure is
associated with this parameter. For a particular beam to
be strengthened and a given FRP material, tf and Lfs
are the only parameters governing the failure diagram.
To identify the failure mode of a strengthened RC beam,
the maximum strain in concrete or FRP at failure is calculated for each individual failure mode. The actual failure
mode is the one that gives rise to the lowest failure strain.
When rupture of FRP strips occurs, the failure strain is
the ultimate axial strain in FRP (efu) obtained from manufacturer or measurement. For compression failure whether
it occurs before or after steel yielding, the failure strain is
the concrete ultimate strain (ecu), which is taken to be
0.0035 in general. Considering the delamination of FRP
strips due to crack, the maximum corresponding strain in
FRP (edf ) and strain in concrete (edc ) at failure are obtained
from Eqs. (14) and (15) as

Consequently, P can be determined as

p
0:53 fc0
1
v
P 0
!2 
u
2
II;unit
II;unit
u
WL
h

xb
t
r
WLfs h  xbf tf r0
1
Lfs
f f 0
@ fs
A.
t
h  xbf tf sII;unit

h  xbf tf W
0
2I
Ibc
2I
I
3. Procedure for constructing the failure diagram
In this paper, the authors attempt to draw a failure diagram to predict the failure mode for a given strengthened
RC beam. There are ve possible failure modes include:
(a) rupture of FRP strips; (b) compression failure after
yielding of steel; (c) compression failure before yielding
of steel; (d) delamination of FRP strips due to crack; and
(e) concrete cover separation. From the practical point of

s
 p0
fc
2

b
=b
f
c
edf 1:1
;
1 bf =bc Ef tf

s
 p0
fc x
2  bf =bc
d
.
ec 1:1
1 bf =bc Ef tf h  x

29

30
31

For concrete cover separation failure, in terms of Eq.

(29), we can get the maximum corresponding strain in
FRP (epf ) and strain in concrete (epc ) at failure below:

v
!
u
2
u WL h  xb t rII;unit 2  1
WLfs h  xbf tf rII;unit
Lfs
fs
f f 0
II;unit
t
0

h  xbf tf s0
X

h  xbf tf W
;
Ibc
2I
2I
I
p
0:53 fc0 LLs
;




epf 
d x
x  d0 0 0
0
X Ef bf tf h  0:5bx
Es As d  0:5bx
Es As 0:5bx  d
hx
hx
p
0:53 fc0 LLs
x





;
epc 
h

x
d x
x  d0 0 0
0
X Ef bf tf h  0:5bx
Es As d  0:5bx
Es As 0:5bx  d
hx
hx

32
33

34

B. Gao et al. / Composite Structures 77 (2007) 493508

where LLs is the distance from the support to the loading

point, and x and Itr according to tf can be obtained as
shown in Eqs. (35) and (36).

can be obtained from Eq. (31), with the assumption of

edc ecu . When tf reaches tdr
f , delamination of FRP strips
starts to occur in place of compression failure.

s

2


Es
Es 0
E c bc E s
Es 0 0
A s As b f t f 2
As d A s d b f t f d f

Ef
Ef
Ef E f
Ef
x
;
E c bc
Ef
Ec
Es
Es 0 0
2
2
2
3
I tr bc x =3 As d  x As d  x bf tf d f  x .
Ef
Ef
Ef


Es
Es

As A0s bf tf
Ef
Ef

The procedure for failure diagram construction is described in detail as follows:

(1) Firstly, the critical FRP thickness, tfrc separating
FRP rupture and compression failure after yielding of steel
and tcacb
separating compression failure after yielding of
f
steel and compression failure before yielding of steel, are given by
Af;min
;
bf
Af;max

;
bf

501

tfrc

37

tcacb
f

38

where Af,min and Af,max are given by Eqs. (5)(10). When

FRP thickness (tf) exceeds tfrc , the failure mode changes
from rupture of FRP to compression failure after yielding
of steel. While tf continues to increase to tcacb
, compresf
sion failure before yielding of steel may take the place of
compression failure after yielding of steel.
(2) Secondly, the occurrence of crack-induced delamination of FRP strips is analysed. Setting edf efu , we can get
dl
rc
tdl
f using Eq. (30). If t f 6 t f , it means that when tf indl
creases to tf the failure mode changes from rupture of
rc
dr
FRP to delamination of FRP. If trc
< 0 or tdl
f
f > tf , tf

35

36

(3) Lastly, concrete cover separation failure is considered. As mentioned above, thickness of FRP (tf) and the
distance from support to cut o point of FRP strips (Lfs)
are set as variables, with tf as horizontal axis and Lfs as
vertical axis. Considering four point bending test, most
cases show that Lfs is not allowed to be longer than LLs,
the distance from the support to the loading point, which
means that the cut o point of FRP must be outside the
constant moment region. Two situations should be considered. Fig. 6(a) and (b) shows a typical failure diagram, for
rc
rc
tdl
and tdl
f 6 tf
f > t f , respectively.
dl
rc
When tf 6 tf in the second stage, the occurrence of
concrete cover separation is divided into two parts, namely
the left part and the right part relative to tdl
f . Setting
epf efu , the relationship of Lfs and tf is obtained from
Eq. (33), and the upper region of the curve on the left side
of tdl
f is the left part. In order to predict the right part, the
comparison between edf and epf have to be done. By assuming edf epf , one can get the transfer curve of Lfs and tf
from delamination of FRP to concrete cover separation.
Consequently, the upper region of the curve of Lfs vs tf
on the right side of tdl
f is the right part, referring to Eqs.
(30) and (33).

rc
rc
Fig. 6. A typical failure diagram in the third step: (a) tdl
and (b) tdl
(using tdr
f 6 tf
f > tf
f ).

502

B. Gao et al. / Composite Structures 77 (2007) 493508

rc
When tdl
in the second stage, the occurrence of
f > tf
concrete cover separation is divided into three parts,
namely the left part (left of tfrc ), the middle part (between
p
dr
tfrc and tdr
f ) and the right part (right of t f ). Setting ef efu ,
the transfer curve of Lfs and tf is obtained from Eq. (33),
and the upper region of the curve on the left side of trc
is
f

tcacb

4. Derivation of the failure diagrama specic example

Several simply supported beams under four point
bending [34] are employed as examples to demonstrate
the establishment of the failure diagram. Appendix B
presents the beam dimensions and material properties, as
well as the failure mode and ultimate load. The establishment of failure diagram for this particular case is
shown in the following, and the results are shown in
Fig. 7(g).
(1) Firstly, determine a1 and b1 from Eqs. (3) and (4):
a1 0:85  0:0015  52:3 0:772 > 0:6;
b1 0:97  0:0015  52:3 0:892 > 0:6.
Then, using Eqs. (5)(7) and (37), we can get

e0s

hecu
0:15  0:0035

0:034 m;
ecu efu 0:012 0:0035

x  d0
0:034  0:03
0:0035
0:0035
0:0004 < 0:002 esy ;
x
0:034

es 0:0035

d x
0:12  0:034
0:0035
0:009 > 0:002 esy .
x
0:034

Therefore,

trc

x  d0
0:076  0:03
0:0021
0:0035 
0:076
x
> 0:002 esy .

e0s 0:0035

As a result, one can get

a1 fc0 bc xb1 fy0 A0s  fy As 0:772  52:3  0:2  0:076  0:892 460  0:0001  460  0:000157
8:05 mm.

0:15  127; 000  0:0034

bf E f e f

the left part. In comparison, the upper region of the curve

of Lfs vs tf between tfrc and tdr
f is the middle part, referring
to Eq. (34) on account of epc ecu . Furthermore, with
edc epc , one can obtain the transfer curve of Lfs and tf
from delamination of FRP to concrete cover separation
referring to Eqs. (31) and (34), and thus the right part is
determined as the upper part of the curve of Lfs vs tf on
the right side of tdr
f .

and

(2) Considering the occurrence of delamination of

FRP strips due to crack, we can get tdl
f using Eq. (30)
below:

s
p

2  0:15=0:2
52:3
0:012 1:1
) tdl
f 0:34 mm.
1 0:15=0:2 127; 000  tdl
f
rc
Since tdl
0:79 mm, it means that with
f 0:34 mm 6 t f
dl
increasing tf to tf the failure mode changes from rupture
of FRP to delamination of FRP, without chance to fail
with compression failure.
rc
(3) Since tdl
0:79 mm in the second
f 0:34 mm 6 t f
stage, the occurrence of concrete cover separation is divided into two parts, namely the left part and the right part
p
relative to tdl
f . Setting ef efu , Eq. (33) is changed to as
follows:

 
p
0:012 0:53  52:3  0:75= X 127; 000  tf  0:15


0:12  x
 0:15  0:5  0:892x
 210; 000
0:15  x


x  0:03
 0:000157  0:12  0:5  0:892x
0:15  x

 210; 000  0:0001  0:5  0:892x  0:03 .
The upper region of the curve on the left side of tdl
f
(0.34 mm) is the left part. In order to predict the right part,
with the assumption of edf epf , one can get the transfer
curve of Lfs and tf from delamination of FRP to concrete
cover separation referring to Eqs. (30) and (33), as given
below:

a1 fc0 bc xb1 Es e0s A0s  fs As 0:772  52:3  0:2  0:034  0:892 0:0004  210; 000  0:0001  460  0:000157

0:79 mm.
bf Ef efu
0:15  127; 000  0:012

Next, in terms of Eqs. (8)(10) and (38), one can obtain

decu
0:12  0:0035
0:076 m;
x

ecu esy 0:0035 0:002

hx
0:15  0:076
ef 0:0035
0:0035 
0:0034
x
0:076

1:1

s

 p0
fc
2  bf =bc
1 bf =bc Ef tf

p
0:53 fc0 LLs






d x
x  d0 0 0
Es As 0:5bx  d 0
X Ef bf tf h  0:5bx
Es As d  0:5bx
hx
hx

B. Gao et al. / Composite Structures 77 (2007) 493508

503

Fig. 7. Demonstration of established failure diagram compared to experiments done by: (a) Alagusundaramoorthy et al. [37]; (b) Arduini et al. [38];
(c) Fanning and Kelly [36]; (d) Gao et al. [39]; (e) Maalej and Bian [40]; (f) Nguyen et al. [35]; (g) Rahimi and Hutchinson [34]; and (h) Triantallou and
Plevris [10].

and

1:1

s

 p
52:3
2  0:15=0:2
1 0:15=0:2 127; 000  tdl
f

p
0:53  52:3  0:75
0:12x


.

 210; 000  0:0001  0:5  0:892x  0:03
X 127;000  tf  0:15  0:15  0:5  0:892x 0:15x  210; 000  0:000157  0:12  0:5  0:892x x0:03
0:15x

504

B. Gao et al. / Composite Structures 77 (2007) 493508

Consequently, the upper region of the curve of Lfs vs tf

on the right side of tdl
f (0.34 mm) is the right part.
5. Verication and discussions
In order to verify the applicability of the failure diagram, published experimental results pertaining to
strengthened RC beams are analysed. Totally, 33 samples
are selected from eight references, showing results that cover various failure modes. Two series of tests carried out by
Nguyen et al. [35] and Fanning and Kelly [36] focused on
the eect of the Lfs on the strengthening performance.
The other papers investigated the inuence of the thickness
of FRP strips. The various values of Lfs and tf, the ultimate loads and the failure modes from experiments and
theoretical models in failure diagram as well as detail information for all samples collected are summarised in Appendix B. The corresponding failure diagrams for the eight
groups of tests are shown in Fig. 7.
The comparison between experiments and prediction by
failure diagram shows that this method could predict the
failure mode for a strengthened RC beam. Also, the ultimate load capacity can be calculated by individual theoretical expression, after the particular failure mode is
obtained. The failure diagram shows that failure mode
for a strengthened RC beam may vary from rupture of
FRP strips, to delamination of FRP strips, and then to
concrete cover separation, with increasing FRP thickness.
With the correct design, compression failure after yielding
of steel may take place before local failure. Reducing the
distance from support to cut o of FRP may decrease
the likelihood of concrete cover separation.
From the practical application point of view, compression failure after yielding of steel is most preferable
in design. However, the occurrence of local failures
such as delamination of FRP strips and concrete cover
separation precludes the chance of compression failure
after yielding of steel. In order to have compression failure after steel yielding, besides reducing the distance
from support to cut o of FRP as far as possible, appropriate selection of FRP properties is very important. FRP
with good performance, such as high strength, high
elongation at failure and high modulus, may not be eective in practical applications, because failure may occur
by delamination of FRP strips early with low axial strain
in FRP.
Before closing, a few remarks should be made on the use
of the failure diagram in practice. To perform strengthening of a given RC beam, the beam dimensions and reinforcement ratio are xed. Also, the selection of FRP
properties is perhaps limited by the availability of commercial products. Consequently, the variables to be chosen are
only the FRP dimensions, including the FRP thickness,
length and width. For a particular concrete beam, the
FRP width can be selected as a certain percentage of the
beam width. The two parameters represented on the failure

diagram are then sucient to determine the failure mode.

After knowing the possible failure mode, the load capacity
and deection of the beam can be accurately predicted.
Since the failure diagram summarizes all possible failure
modes, a clear picture of all possibilities are provided to
guide the designer in choosing the best combination of
plate thickness and length. The plotting of failure diagrams
will also facilitate the selection of the best material. Moreover, with the failure mode predicted, the critical failure
initiation location can be known. That information is very
useful for the continuous monitoring of strengthened
beams, as well as the determination of appropriate positions for the application of anchors.
The idea behind the failure diagram is that the failure
mode associated with the lowest strain in FRP or concrete
by comparison is most likely to occur. In this paper, a general concept is proposed. With future development leading
to better methods for local failure, the equations in this paper can be further rened.
6. Conclusions
Numerous studies including experimental research, theoretical analysis, and numerical simulation have demonstrated that epoxy bonding of bre reinforced plastic
(FRP) strips to the tension sot of reinforced concrete
(RC) beams can signicantly improve the ultimate exural
strength and stiness. Several important failure modes
have been studied, such as compression failure before or
after yielding of steel, rupture of FRP strips, delamination
of FRP strips and concrete cover separation.
This paper attempts to build a failure diagram to show
the relationship and the transition among dierent failure
modes for RC beams strengthened with FRP strips, and
how failure modes vary with FRP thickness and the distance from the end of FRP strips to the support. The idea
behind this failure diagram is that the failure mode associated with the lowest strain in FRP or concrete by comparison is most likely to occur. By comparison between
predictions based on failure diagram and experimental results, we show that this method could predict the failure
mode for a strengthened RC beam. Knowing the failure
mode, the ultimate load capacity can be calculated. The
failure diagram provides guidelines to practical design,
and is useful in establishing a procedure for selecting the
type and size of FRP for the external strengthening of
RC beam.
Acknowledgements
The Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR
(Project No. HKUST 6050/99E), provided the nancial
support of this work. The authors wish to thank the Construction Materials Laboratory, Advanced Engineering
Material Facilities, and Design and Manufacturing Services Facility in HKUST for their technical supports.

B. Gao et al. / Composite Structures 77 (2007) 493508

Appendix A. Prediction of the ultimate exural strength of

strengthened RC Beams
Generally speaking, two situations should be considered, including (a) obtaining the quantity of FRP to satisfy
the requirement of moment capacity for a RC beam and
(b) calculating the moment capacity of a strengthened
RC beam. Both cases are the reverse processes.
From the practical design point of view, the former is
the more common case. To archive the targeted moment,
Mu, the following formula is employed:
M u a1 fc0 bc b1 xh  0:5b1 x  fy As h  d fy0 A0s h  d 0 .
39
Only one unknown variable, x, exists in the equation,
which can be obtained as the solution of a quadratic
equation

b1 

q
b21  4a1 c1
2a1

40

a1 0:5a1 b21 fc0 bc ;

41

b1 a1 b1 fc0 bc h;

42

c1 M u fy As h  d  fy0 A0s h  d 0 .

43

Knowing x, we can get, es, e0s , and ef by linear strain distribution with ec = 0.0035.
es 0:0035

d x
;
x

44

e0s 0:0035

x  d0
;
x

45

df  x
ef 0:0035
.
x

46

If es > esy and ef < efu, the FRP area is within the range
Af,min 6 Af 6 Af,max. In this case, compressive failure will
occur after steel yielding. Af can be obtained from the
Eq. (9) or (10), as well as Mu from Eq. (39). If es < esy
and ef < efu, the yielding of steel in tension can not be obtained before failure. Therefore, in order to have enough
ductility and warning before failure, the area of FRP must
be reduced to Af,max. The ultimate moment resistance, M 0u
is then lower than Mu. The calculation of Af,max has been
introduced in Eqs. (8)(10). Then, we can get M 0u , as
follows:

e0s 0:0035

x  d0
< esy ;
x

M 0u a1 fc0 bc b1 xh  0:5b1 x  fy As h  d
fy0 A0s h  d 0 ;

e0s 0:0035

x  d0
P esy .
x

48

When ef > efu, rupture of FRP strips is to occur instead of

compression failure. In this case, the area of FRP can be
increased to a value within the range of Af,min and Af,max,
to assure the occurrence of compression failure after yielding of steel. The ultimate moment resistance M 0u , which can
be obtained using Eqs. (51) and (52), will then be higher
than Mu.
To calculate the moment capacity of a given strengthened RC beam, two balanced limited values of cross section area of FRP, Af,min and Af,max are calculated rst, to
determine the failure mode in terms of Af. For each individual failure mode, x can be obtained from force equilibrium
of the cross section and the relationship among strain components (Eqs. (44)(46)). The ultimate moment resistance
M 0u , can be calculated by the equations below for dierent
situations.
When Af < Af,min,
M 0u Af Ef efu h  0:5b1 x fy As d  0:5b1 x
Es e0s A0s 0:5b1 x  d 0 ;

e0s efu

x  d0
< esy .
hx

49

M 0u Af Ef efu h  0:5b1 x fy As d  0:5b1 x

fy0 A0s 0:5b1 x  d 0 ;

e0s efu

x  d0
P esy .
hx

50

When Af,min 6 Af 6 Af,max,

M 0u a1 fc0 bc b1 xh  0:5b1 x  fy As h  d
Es e0s A0s h  d 0 ;

e0s 0:0035

x  d0
< esy ;
x

51

M 0u a1 fc0 bc b1 xh  0:5b1 x  fy As h  d
fy0 A0s h  d 0 ;

e0s 0:0035

x  d0
P esy .
x

52

When Af > Af,max,

M 0u a1 fc0 bc b1 xh  0:5b1 x  Es es As h  d
Es e0s A0s h  d 0 ;

e0s 0:0035

x  d0
< esy ;
x

53

M 0u a1 fc0 bc b1 xh  0:5b1 x  Es es As h  d

M 0u a1 fc0 bc b1 xh  0:5b1 x  fy As h  d
Es e0s A0s h  d 0 ;

505

47

fy0 A0s h  d 0 ;

e0s 0:0035

x  d0
P esy .
x

54

506

B. Gao et al. / Composite Structures 77 (2007) 493508

Appendix B. Details of experiments

Experiments

Beam

Beam Beam Beam FRP

FRP FRP
As
width depth length length width thickness
(mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm)

Alagusundaramoorthy CB11-1F 230

et al. [37]
CB11-1F 230
CB11-2F 230
CB11-2F 230

380
380
380
380

4576
4576
4576
4576

4370
4370
4370
4370

203
203
203
203

0.18
0.18
0.36
0.36

225
225
225
225

Arduini et al. [38]

A3
A4
A5

200
200
200

200
200
200

2000
2000
2000

1700
1700
1700

150
150
150

1.3
1.3
2.6

Fanning and
Kelly [36]

FKF5
FKF6
FKF7
FKF10

155
155
155
155

240
240
240
240

3000
3000
3000
3000

2030
2030
1876
1700

120
120
120
120

Gao et al. [39]

T1
T2
T4
T6

150
150
150
150

200
200
200
200

2000
2000
2000
2000

1200
1200
1200
1200

Maalej and
Bian [40]

MB2
MB3
MB4
MB5

115
115
115
115

150
150
150
150

1500
1500
1500
1500

Nguyen et al. [35]

A950
A1100
A1150
A1500

120
120
120
120

150
150
150
150

Rahimi and
Hutchinson [34]

RHB3
RHB4
RHB5
RHB6

200
200
200
200

Triantallou and
Plevris [10]

3
4
5
6
7
8

76
76
76
76
76
76

A0s

342
342
342
342

25
25
25
25

103
103
103
103

214
214
214

214 163
214 163
214 163

37
37
37

150
150
150

1.2
1.2
1.2
1.2

312
312
312
312

212
212
212
212

203
203
203
203

37
37
37
37

385
385
462
550

75
75
75
75

0.11
0.22
0.44
0.66

210
210
210
210

28
28
28
28

162
162
162
162

27
27
27
27

150
150
150
150

1200
1200
1200
1200

115
115
115
115

0.111
0.222
0.333
0.444

310
310
310
310

210
210
210
210

125
125
125
125

25
25
25
25

75
75
75
75

1500
1500
1500
1500

950
1100
1150
1500

80
80
80
80

1.2
1.2
1.2
1.2

310
310
310
310

26
26
26
26

120
120
120
120

28
28
28
28

190
115
90
0

150
150
150
150

2300
2300
2300
2300

1930
1930
1930
1930

150
150
150
150

0.44
0.44
1.2
1.2

210
210
210
210

28
28
28
28

120
120
120
120

30
30
30
30

85
85
85
85

127
127
127
127
127
127

1220
1220
1220
1220
1220
1220

1070
1070
1070
1070
1070
1070

0.2
0.65
0.65
0.9
0.9
1.9

24.6
24.6
24.6
24.6
24.6
24.6

111
111
111
111
111
111

75
75
75
75
75
75

60.5
63.2
63.2
63.3
63.3
63.9

29
29
29
29

d
d0
Lfs
(mm) (mm) (mm)

Experiments

Beam

fc0
(MPa)

ft
(MPa)

Ec
(GPa)

Es
(GPa)

Ef
(GPa)

Pmodel
(kN)

Pexp
(kN)

Failure
modemodel

Alagusundaramoorthy
et al. [37]

CB11-1F
CB11-1F
CB11-2F
CB11-2F

31
31
31
31

3.0
3.0
3.0
3.0

26.3
26.3
26.3
26.3

200
200
200
200

228
228
228
228

229
229
233
233

219
223
263
270

RF
RF
DF
DF

RF
RF
DF
DF

Arduini et al. [38]

A3
A4
A5
FKF5
FKF6
FKF7
FKF10

33
33
33
80
80
80
80

2.6
2.6
2.6
5
5
5
5

25
25
25
39.2
39.2
39.2
39.2

200
200
200
204
204
204
204

167
167
167
155
155
155
155

94.1
94.1
67.8
112.75
112.75
94.83
80.23

106
104
84
100
103
97.5
82

CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS

CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS

Fanning and Kelly [36]

Failure
modeexp

B. Gao et al. / Composite Structures 77 (2007) 493508

507

Appendix B (continued)
Experiments

Beam

fc0
(MPa)

ft
(MPa)

Ec
(GPa)

Es
(GPa)

Ef
(GPa)

Pmodel
(kN)

Gao et al. [39]

T1
T2
T4
T6

43.1
43.1
43.1
43.1

3.5
3.5
3.5
3.5

25
25
25
25

200
200
200
200

235
235
235
235

71.4
80.9
94.7
73.5

Maalej and Bian [40]

MB2
MB3
MB4
MB5

30.3
30.3
30.3
30.3

2.9
2.9
2.9
2.9

26
26
26
26

183.6
183.6
183.6
183.6

230
230
230
230

Nguyen et al. [35]

A950
A1100
A1150
A1500

27.3
27.3
27.3
27.3

2.8
2.8
2.8
2.8

25
25
25
25

200
200
200
200

Rahimi and Hutchinson [34]

RHB3
RHB4
RHB5
RHB6

52.3
52.3
52.3
52.3

3
3
3
3

25
25
25
25

Triantallou and Plevris [10]

3
4
5
6
7
8

44.7
44.7
44.7
44.7
44.7
44.7

3.5
3.5
3.5
3.5
3.5
3.5

31.6
31.6
31.6
31.6
31.6
31.6

Pexp
(kN)

Failure
modemodel

Failure
modeexp

73.2
80.7
86.4
86.3

RF
DF
DF
CS

RF
DF
CS
CS

71.7
73.3
90.5
73.5

72
86
82
79

CC
CC
CS
CS

RF
CS
CS
CS

181
181
181
181

35.4
55.0
67.3
74.6

56.2
57.3
58.9
118.0

CS
CS
CS
DF

CS
CS
CS
CC

210
210
210
210

127
127
127
127

48.5
48.5
52.6
52.6

55.2
52.5
69.7
69.6

DF
DF
CS
CS

DF
DF
CS
CS

200
200
200
200
200
200

186
186
186
186
186
186

16.3
31.7
31.7
35.6
35.6
46.7

17.27
29.56
25.59
30.50
27.90
37.33

RF
DF
DF
DF
DF
CS

RF
DF
DF
DF
DF
DF

CC = compression failure; RF = rupture of FRP strips; DF = delamination of FRP strips; CS = concrete cover
separation.

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