Missouri S&T Scholar's Mine Research RepositoryMissouri S&T Research
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Experiments on Two-Way RC Slabs with Openings Strengthened with CFRP Laminates
In this paper, the results of a research program that investigated the behavior of two-way RC flat slabs with a centered square opening are presented. Three slabs were tested to failure, consisting of a control specimen with no opening, one specimen with an opening and no strengthening, and one with an opening and three CFRP plies applied to the tension face along each side of the opening. These results revealed that externally bonded CFRP laminates significantly increased both the overall stiffness and flexural capacity of the slabs with an opening. It is shown that such positive-moment strengthening of cutout slabs is entirely viable using CFRP laminates. CFRP anchoring can further increase the performance of the strengthening scheme adopted. Experimental load-deflection curves and failure modes are reported.