Short-term and long-term behavior of RC beams strengthened by galvanized steel mesh laminate

•Experimental and numerical study of RC beams strengthened by galvanized steel mesh.•Significant improvement in the ultimate load of GSM strengthened beams.•Change of failure mode from bending to delamination of concrete cover at the ends.•GSM strengthening had no effect on concrete creep and shrinkage deflections.•Yield load (and deflection) decreased with decrease of interfacial bond strength.•Decreasing GSM laminate width reduced the yield and ultimate loads of the beam.•Increasing length of the GSM laminate increased beam capacity up to a limit.