Study on the effect of pre-stressed level on the force performance of wedge steel plate jacket and steel wire mesh-PCM strengthened RC beams

In this study, the shear behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened with wedge steel plate jacket (WSPJ) and high-strength steel wire mesh-polymer cement mortar (PCM) was investigated. The total contained 6 strengthened beams and 3 control beams, the test variables were the level of prestressing applied to the steel wire and the shear-span ratio of the RC beam. Our findings indicate that shear failure and bending failure were two types of strengthened beams failure, and the WSPJ and steel wire mesh-PCM strengthening technology can effectively improve the shear bearing capacity and ductility of RC beams. Furthermore, it delayed and inhibited the emergence and development of oblique cracks. Under the same shear-to-span ratio, the characteristic load as well as the shear bearing capacity of strengthened RC beams were significantly increased with the increase of prestressing level. The ductility is increased, and the damage mode of strengthened RC beams was changed. Finally, a modified model based on Truss-Arch model was proposed to forecast the shear capacity of strengthened beams. This model considers the impacts of the prestressing level and the shear-to-span ratio and then validated by the experimental data.