STRENGTHENING OF CORBELS USING CFRP AN EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM

ABSTRACT

Structural engineers are frequently faced with the task of upgrading or strengthening an existing structure. An experimental study was carried out on six corbels strengthened by Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) to study the effectiveness of using CFRP as an external strengthening method to increase the load carrying capacity of the corbel. Laminates of CFRP were bonded to the corbels using a two-component epoxy. Different strengthening configurations were used. The test results indicated that the proposed technique has potential in improving the ultimate load carrying capacity of the short cantilever. Using the CFRP enhanced load carrying capacity of the corbels for all specimens, the increase in ultimate load ranges between 8% to 70% compared to the control specimen.

Keywords

Bracket, Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP), composite materials, corbels, epoxy bonding, external strengthening, short cantilever