This paper provides a focused review of the studies on short‐term flexural performance, creep behaviour and blast responses of timber beams reinforced with three strengthening methods: external reinforcement (ER), near‐surface mounted (NSM) and glued‐in (GI) methods. These reinforcing approaches, using higher‐strength materials, have been widely applied to enhance the load‐carrying capacities of timber beams, especially in low‐grade and/or damaged timber. Additionally, this paper summarises important details regarding the short‐term flexural behaviour of plain (unstrengthened) timber and the strengthening sub‐classifications based on the reinforcement materials of fibre‐reinforced polymer (FRP) and steel. This summary facilitates a better understanding of the underpinning behaviour of timber and different types of strengthening materials. For each strengthening scheme, the short‐term failure modes and structural performance are critically reviewed from both experimental tests and numerical analyses. The main analytical models proposed to estimate the short‐term flexural responses of timber beams are also presented. The effects of several strengthening methods on creep behaviour under different conditions are critically discussed in detail. Furthermore, the impact of ER–FRP reinforcements on the blast response of timber beams is explored, and the results are discussed. The state‐of‐the‐art findings are summarised, and future research recommendations are provided. This review highlights the need for investigating the optimised strengthening methods, the interfacial stress concentration at the end of ER reinforcements, the drawbacks of NSM grooves, steel reinforcement in the GI method, more reliable analytical models of flexural performance prediction of strengthened timber beams, the development of numerical analysis for short‐ and long‐term flexural responses, and the blast performance of various strengthening methods based on FRP and steel reinforcements.
Sarvestani et al. (Thu,) studied this question.