Steel plates (béton plaqué) being bonded onto the external surface of reinforced concrete building elements, are a very practical method of strengthening, aiming at complementing the insufficient existing reinforcement with new reinforcement. This method is mainly used for increasing strength of concrete beams and slabs.
Steel plates are bonded, using a special epoxy resin, in parallel to the existing (insufficient) reinforcement. Therefore they are placed either at the bottom of beams and slabs or on the side surfaces of beams.
Steel plates can also be used in the form of steel jackets, for the repair-strengthening of columns using the confinement method.