An Experimental Work on Rehabilitation Method of Beam Reinforcement by Using Meshing & Stitching Method

Abstract

Structural rehabilitation has become a major strategy that is vital for enhance and upgrading the efficiency of repairing defected structural elements. The deterioration of RC structures along with the dissimilarity and the prices of re- pairing actions have laid to encouragement of innovation of new repair materials and new strategies for structure recovery.The most widely recognized reason for untimely material deterioration is when the structure is subjected to the harsh environment, thus leading to the corrosion of the structure. Corrosion is like a dis- ease for the strengthened structure since it damages the reinforcement in it, which influences its quality and its life expectancy. Due to corrosion, various defects are caused such as reduction in cross section area of the bar, reduction in ductility, brown patches, spalling of concrete cover, etc. Also, reduction in strength, stiffness, serviceability and load carrying capacity is adversely affected. As the bar reduces in diameter, moment carrying capacity and shear capacities are reduced in the member.

Introduction

The text describes an experimental investigation on corrosion-damaged reinforced concrete beams and their rehabilitation. After casting, concrete specimens were water-cured for 28 days and tested for compressive strength using a Universal Testing Machine (UTM). Beams were then subjected to accelerated corrosion for 14 days and tested under two-point loading until failure. Load–deflection behavior was recorded at regular intervals, and key parameters such as moment carrying capacity, bending stresses, and failure load were evaluated both before and after repair.

Following failure, the corroded beams were rehabilitated using four different repair techniques: section enhancement (repair mortar overlay), meshing with stainless steel wire mesh, stitching with U-shaped steel bars, and a combined meshing + stitching method. Each method involved removal of damaged concrete, cleaning and rust removal of reinforcement, application of repair materials, and proper curing. The combined method integrated additional tension reinforcement and external confinement to enhance structural performance.

After rehabilitation and 28 days of curing, the repaired beams were re-tested under the same loading conditions. The results focused on comparing load-carrying capacity, stiffness, bending behavior, deflection, and failure modes of beams before corrosion, after corrosion, and after repair. Overall, the study demonstrates the effectiveness of different rehabilitation techniques in restoring or improving the structural performance of corrosion-damaged RC beams.

Conclusion

Corroded beams rehabilitated using section enhancement, meshing, stitching and combination of mesh + stitch method restored 94.61%, 115.14%, 124.98% and 129.73% strength of their respective control beams. Corroded beams rehabilitated with combination of stitching + meshing method gives highest load carrying capacity and hence moment capacity in all the techniques used. The justification for the high strength of combination method is the application of ferro- cement layer consisting of mesh + high strength repair mortar supported by the U-type bars and with minimal hair cracks. Combination method can be used for the beams that have failed in shear as well as flexure. The stitching method is most efficient method because the beam rehabilitated with this technique gives better ultimate strength of 89.35 kN (115.14%) and lesser deflection of 7.68 mm (22.73%) compared to controlled beams. The damaged beams rehabilitated with stitching method gives lesser ultimate strength of 89.35 kN (lesser by 17.46%) and lesser deflection of 7.68 mm (lesser by 107.16%) as compared to combination of mesh + stitch method that failed at 104.95 kN and 15.91 mm deflection. Practically stitching method is simple in application and execution. Strain energy required for failure of beams after rehabilitation is less than the energy required before rehabilitation. The percentage of corrosion in beam was found to be greater than 10%, and was rehabilitated using CFRP wraps and laminates. The rehabilitated beam is in service condition and is working well.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Mayuri D. Gaikwad. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.