Modelling the thermal behaviour of GFRP reinforced concrete beams subjected to elevated temperature by standard fire exposure

Abstract

The effective implementation of a quality fire safety model of Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures rely on the reliable numerical simulation tools of RC exposed to elevated temperature. To assess the thermal behaviour, models were created for Glass Fibber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) RC beams exposed to fire loads following ISO 834 standard fire curve. Three-dimensional (3D) Finite Element (FE) models were developed. Appropriate material data is used to model the thermal and structural behaviour of GFRP reinforced beams. Different cover to concrete and diameters of bars were used as variables in the model. Temperature-dependent material properties were used for modelling the flexural behaviour of the reference and the temperature exposed GFRP beams. The developed model with the appropriate material properties simulated the flexural behaviour of beam with GFRP and steel bar.