A test to failure has been carried out on a 50 -year-old RC railway trough bridgestrengthened in flexure with near-surface mounted (NSM) Carbon Fibre ReinforcedPolymers (CFRP) bars. The failure occurred at 11.7 MN load, by a flexural shear failuremechanism. At failure intermediate crack (IC) debonding of the CFRP bars was noticed,and at the same moment the major shear crack opened. The NSM CFRP increased boththe flexural and shear capacity of the bridge. The present codes provided conservativeestimates of shear force capacity; more accurate models are required for detailed capacityassessments of existing concrete through bridges.
Validerad; 2011; 20111215 (mem)