Strength Prediction of Notched Foamed Concrete Beam Strengthened with KFRP Plates under Flexural Load

An experimental study to investigate the load at failure, failure mechanism, and crack propagation of a notched foamed concrete beam externally reinforced with a 200 mm length kenaf fiber reinforced polymer (KFRP) and tested under a four-point bending test (4PBT) is presented. In this study, the notch depth was varied. KFRP plates were fabricated by placing weaved yarns and smeared with Sika S31. From the experimental work, the shear failure and FRP rupture were seen. Various normalized notch depths significantly influenced allowable ultimate displacement, crack initiation, and failure modes. Following the preceding experimental series, a 2-D numerical modeling framework was developed to simulate the failure of the KFRP-strengthened foamed concrete beam. Independent tests had been carried out to determine material properties of the foamed concrete beam (i.e., un-notched beam strength, σ o and fracture energy, G c ), later they were incorporated within a traction–separation relationship as a constitutive model of finite element modeling. The fracture energy values were calculated using Hillerborg’s model, which agrees well with the previous literature. Extended finite element model techniques were adopted for the strength prediction works. A good agreement was found between the predicted and experimental results with discrepancies of less than 15%.