Rehabilitation of Concrete Beam by Using Martensitic Shape Memory Alloy Strands

The rehabilitation properties of intelligent concrete beam reinforced with shape memory alloys (SMA) is investigated. In this study, SMA strands, made of 7 single wires, are used to replace the steel bars in ordinary concrete beam. The test of single point loading at the mid-span is conducted on the beam. The experiment has three stages including loading, unloading and heating the SMA strands. During heating the SMA strands by electrical current, the crack width can be reduced by taking the advantage of the shape memory effect of SMA strands. The results illustrate that SMA is a candidate material for rehabilitation of reinforced concrete structures.