Structural Performance of Smart CFRP-FBG Reinforced Steel Beams

Abstract

Many beam structures suffer from gradual performance degradation with the increase of service life. To recover the bearing capacity of these beams, carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates are developed to attached on the beam bottom. To check the structural performance of the CFRP reinforced beams, smart CFRP plate with FBGs in series is designed and LVDTs are adopted to measure the deformations. The deflection of the reinforced beam is given based on the elastic conversion cross-section method. The experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The study shows that the CFRP reinforced zone has a larger flexural rigidity than the pure steel beam zone. The general distribution of the deflection along the span of the CFRP reinforced beam can be described by the proposed formula. It provides a scientific design guidance for the deflection control of CFRP reinforced structures.