A convenient method for enhancing the strength and stiffness of existing reinforced concrete beams is to bond adhesively steel plates to their tension faces. However, there is a limit to the applicability of tension face plating as the tension face plates are prone to premature debonding and, furthermore, the addition of the plate reduces the ductility of the beam. An alternative approach to tension face plating is to bond adhesively steel plates to the sides of reinforced concrete beams, as side plates are less prone to debonding and can allow the beam to remain ductile. Debonding at the ends of the side plates due to flexural forces, that is flexural peeling, is studied in this paper. A fundamental mathematical model for flexural peeling is developed, which is calibrated experimentally to produce design rules for preventing premature debonding of the plate-ends due to flexural forces. In the companion paper, the effect of shear forces on flexural peeling is quantified to produce design rules that are applied to the strengthening and stiffening of continuous reinforced concrete beams.