@inbook{7380a65607694eb4a546e0db77d8c704,
title = "Upgrading the Strength of Reinforced Concrete Beams with Natural FRP Plate",
abstract = "The use of fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets and laminates for strengthening concrete structures is established in both literature and practice as an effective method of retrofitting. Due to environmental concerns, there has been a growing interest in using natural FRPs as a more sustainable alternative to synthetic ones. In this study, a flax fibre-greenpoxy composite plate was designed and applied to upgrade both undamaged and pre-damaged reinforced concrete (RC) beams. The biocomposite plate was fabricated with 40\% fibre content by mass using the hand lay-up technique. A four-point bending test was conducted on 1840 mm long steel-reinforced concrete beams. The pre-damaged beams were preloaded until the tension steel yielded to simulate service conditions before strengthening. The unstrengthened, undamaged and pre-damaged beams were tested to determine the effectiveness of the material as a retrofitting solution. The results show that the developed natural FRP plate enhanced the load-carrying capacity of the undamaged and pre-damaged beam sets by 43.35\% and 65.02\% respectively. Their application in the building industry can support the transition towards environmentally responsible construction practices.",
keywords = "Flexure, Retrofitting, natural fibre reinforced polymer",
author = "Nwankwo, \{Chinyere O.\} and Jeffrey Mahachi and David Olukanni and Innocent Musonda",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.",
year = "2025",
doi = "10.1007/978-3-031-92777-5\_51",
language = "English",
series = "RILEM Bookseries",
publisher = "Springer Science and Business Media B.V.",
pages = "628--638",
booktitle = "RILEM Bookseries",
address = "Germany",
}