FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF INTERMEDIATE CRACK-INDUCED DEBONDING IN FRP STRENGTHENED RC BEAMS

A finite element(FE)model to simulate the intermediate crack(IC)debonding of RC beams flexually strengthened with externally bonded FRP plates is presented. A dual debonding criterion is proposed so that IC debonding can be predicted with the common smeared crack approach for concrete. Based on meso-scale FE results, proper bond-slip models for the interface between FRP and concrete are subsequently proposed. The FE model is implemented into the FE package MSC.MARC. Through comparisons with the experimental results of 45 beams, the proposed method is shown to provide accurate predictions of IC debonding failures.