Evaluation of crack spacing in RC elements externally bonded with FRP

ABSTRACT

A critical review of the available code provisions to evaluate crack width and spacing in RC elements strengthened with FRP sheets is dealt with in this paper. Many experimental results of tests performed by the Authors on RC beams and ties externally bonded with FRP are summarized and compared with the code provisions in terms of crack width and spacing. A new formulation to evaluate crack spacing in externally reinforced RC elements has been calibrated on the experimental results and proposed to be introduced in the expression of crack width provided by Eurocode 2