Abstract
The near surface mounted system is considered an innovative strengthening technique used to increase the flexural and shear capacity of RC structures. Although, many researches have been carried out to study the flexural response of NSM joints, further research is still required to cover all the controlling parameters. In this research, the effects of the FRP cross sectional area, end anchoring, and partial bonding of the NSM bars were experimentally investigated. A numerical investigation utilizes the non-linear finite element (FE) modeling was also performed using ANSYS (R). Progressive continuum damage mechanics along with the fracture concepts were employed to simulate the damage initiation and propagation at the epoxy-concrete interface. The developed FE models were calibrated and verified using the obtained experimental results. Based on the good agreement obtained between experimental and FE results, the numerical analysis was extended to conduct an extensive parametric investigation. The numerically investigated parameters included the NSM bar length, tensile steel corrosion, concrete compressive strength, Activating/prestressing the NSM reinforcement, and axial stiffness of the prestressed NSM joints.