Experimental and numerical investigations of the shear performance of reinforced concrete deep beams strengthened with hybrid SHCC-mesh

This paper investigates the shear strengthening of simply supported deep beams using welded wire mesh and glass fiber mesh filled with strain-hardening cementitious composites (SHCC) concrete. Nine reinforced concrete (RC) deep beams were tested in this study to investigate different shear-strengthening techniques including the type of mesh (glass fiber mesh and welded steel wire mesh), number of layers (single and double), and the effects of additional anchor using high-strength bolts on the shear performance of RC deep beams. The results showed the SHCC-mesh jackets increased the ultimate load of the deep beams by up to 82 %, cracking load by up to 73 %, elastic stiffness by up to 457 %, and energy absorption by up to 380 % compared to the unstrengthen control beam. Furthermore, the welded wire mesh provided greater enhancements of strength, stiffness, and energy absorption than the glass fiber mesh. In addition, anchoring the jackets further improved the strengthening efficiency. Advanced nonlinear three-dimensional finite element models were also simulated to capture the structural responses of the RC deep beams strengthened using welded wire mesh and glass fiber mesh. It was found that the numerical models accurately predicted the behavior of the beams upon validation against the experimental results.