Punching shear strength of interior slab–column connections strengthened with carbon fiber reinforced polymer sheets

In this paper, punching shear strengthening of flat slabs using Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) sheets is studied. Fifteen specimens of reinforced concrete slabs were tested. Thirteen of them were strengthened by CFRP sheets and two specimens were kept as control specimens. Four of these strengthened specimens were tested under cyclic vertical loading. The width of CFRP sheets varied in different specimens. The CFRP sheets were located at the tension side of the slabs in two perpendicular directions. Vertical load was applied downward through a column stub using a hydraulic Jack. In all specimens, no rupture of CFRP sheets was observed. The test results showed that the use of CFRP sheet, in addition to steel reinforcing bars, as flexural reinforcement improves the punching shear strength of slabs. This improvement can be significant for the slabs made of high strength concrete and low steel reinforcement ratio. However, the improvement of punching shear strength due to FRP strengthening reduced under cyclic vertical loading. The test results were compared with the equations proposed by ACI 318 and BS 8110 Codes. The ACI Code underestimates the punching shear strength of slabs and this underestimation becomes more pronounced with the increase in the flexural reinforcement. The BS 8110 Code appropriately accounts for the effect of flexural reinforcement on punching shear strength of slabs. However, for the strengthened slabs, an equivalent reinforcement ratio should be used to include the effect of both steel and CFRP flexural reinforcement.