Strengthening of Constructed Reinforced Concrete Beams Using Partial Concrete Jacketing

Abstract

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has been experiencing massive developmental activities in recent years. For several purposes, decision-makers have been forced to resort to change the use or the functionality of existing buildings, e.g. to transform a residential building into a school or administrative buildings, even though and according to the specifications/ codes, these buildings may not be able to carry additional loads, without strengthening their structural elements; beams and columns. In many cases, it is a common practice that the owners of the building would tend to demolish them and construct new ones to serve safely the new required purpose/ function rather than strengthening/ upgrading the existing one. This practice is, undoubtedly, uneconomical and is considered as a waste of money and natural resources since these buildings can still be used and function-based modified after upgrading their structural elements according to the specifications/ codes. With the continuous developments of civil engineering practices in general and structural engineering in particular, engineers have been investigating the rehabilitation/ strengthening techniques of existing structures to save them and/or to increase their load capacity by raising the efficiency of the structural elements of existing buildings such as beams and columns. This technique contributes in cost saving and in increasing of lifetime of these structures. Rehabilitation / strengthening techniques require deep study of the structural behavior of beams and/or columns. There are several methods that can be employed to implement these techniques such as; fiber reinforced polymers (FRP), joints stiffening, bracing system, and full concrete jacketing whether for beams or columns.