Flexural Behavior of Concrete Beams Reinforced with GFRP Bars

Abstract

Corrosion is a crucial problem in steel reinforcement which deteriorates the material when it reacts with the environment. Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastic (GFRP) rebar emerged as a promising alternative to traditional steel reinforcement with excellent results in terms of corrosion resistance. Its advantages include high longitudinal strength and tensile strength, resistance to corrosion and chemical attack, light weight and electromagnetic neutrality. In this background investigations on static behaviour of concrete beams reinforced with GFRP beams were carried out to study the flexural behaviour under static monotonic loading. Concrete beams of dimensions 1500 mm x 200 mm x 100 mm reinforced with GFRP bars were investigated to study the behaviour. For comparison purpose, concrete beams of identical dimensions reinforced with TMT bars were also investigated. The investigations were carried out using ±100 kN capacity fatigue rated MTS actuator. The various data obtained during the tests include the load, displacement, deflections at three locations along the span, rotation of the beam, strains in main reinforcement and on concrete beam surface. This paper presents the details of experimental investigations and the results.