Assessment of effectiveness of NSM-CFRP flexural strengthening configurations for continuous RC slabs

The experimental programs for the flexural strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) structures using the Near Surface Mounted (NSM) technique with Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) laminates were, in general, conducted with simply supported beams. Therefore, there is a lack of experimental and theoretical studies on the moment redistribution of statically indeterminate RC elements strengthened with NSM technique. This work explores the influence of the amount of FRP in terms of load carrying capacity, ductility and moment redistribution capacity of continuous RC slab strips. In this way, two span slab strips strengthened in the hogging region were tested. The obtained results were used to assess the predictive performance of a finite element model in the simulation of the nonlinear behavior of the tested slabs. Finally, a parametric study is carried out to investigate the influence of the strengthening arrangement and FRP percentage in terms of load carrying capacity and moment redistribution capacity of continuous RC slab strips flexurally strengthened by the NSM technique