Investigating interfacial stresses and bending behavior in beams strengthened with bonded prestressed FRP plates

In the present work, we present an explicit analytical solution for calculating the flexural and interfacial behavior of beams strengthened by prestressed bonded plates. Unlike existing approaches, our method comprehensively integrates shear-lag deformations from both the beam and the plate, thus providing a more accurate prediction of critical interfacial stresses and overall composite behavior. A parametric analysis was conducted to examine how variations in parameters such as prestress force and the geometric and mechanical characteristics of the reinforcement plate impact the behavior of the interface. These variations were found to significantly influence the maximum shear and normal stress within the composite element.