Shear Strengthening of RC Beams Using Polyester Rope

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the shear strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) beams using polyester rope (PR). A total of five small scale RC beams were cost and tested under four point bending scheme. One beam was tested as un-strengthen to serve as a control beam whereas remaining four beams were strengthened using polyester rope prior to the test. PR was applied in the shear critical region using two different kinds of configurations such as configuration A and B. In the configuration A, the PR was applied in the form of strips whereas in configuration B, the PR was applied over the whole shear critical region of beams. Further in both strengthening configurations, the PR was applied in two different thicknesses i.e., one layer and three layers. The experimental results indicate that use of PR is every effective to alter the response of RC beams and to enhance the shear strength of RC beams. There is found increase in load carrying capacity with an increase in the PR thickness. It was also observed that strengthening configuration B is superior to the strengthening configuration A in terms of ultimate load carrying capacity of RC beams.