Punching shear strength of reinforced concrete flat plates with gfrp vertical grids

Abstract

In this study, the structural behavior of reinforced concrete flat plates shear reinforced with vertical grids made of a glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) was experimentally evaluated. To examine the shear strength, experiments were performed on nine concrete slabs with different amounts and spacings of shear reinforcement. The test results indicated that the shear strength increased as the amount of shear reinforcement increased and as the spacing of the shear reinforcement decreased. The GFRP shear reinforcement changed the cracks and failure mode of the specimens from a brittle punching to flexure one. In addition, the experimental results are compared with a shear strength equation provided by different concrete design codes. This comparison demonstrates that all of the equations underestimate the shear strength of reinforced concrete flat plates shear reinforced with GFRP vertical grids. The shear strength of the equation by BS 8110 is able to calculate the punching shear strength reasonably for a concrete flat plate shear reinforced with GFRP vertical grids.