Shear Behavior of Post-Tensioned Concrete Beams with Draped FRP Tendons and without Transverse Reinforcement

To investigate the shear behavior of post-tensioned concrete beams with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcements, six large-scale post-tensioned beams without transverse reinforcement and with a shear span-to-effective depth ratio of approximately 3.0 were tested to failure. All beams were longitudinally reinforced with draped prestressed carbon FRP tendons and non-prestressed glass FRP bars. The test variables included the amount of flexural reinforcement and the prestressing level. With the aid of full-field measurement on the beam surface using digital image correlation, the kinematics of the critical shear crack of each beam were tracked. Two shear failure modes, including shear compression and shear tension, were observed in the tested beams. Generally, when the amount of flexural reinforcement increased, there was a corresponding increase in the maximum shear force. When the total prestressing force was increased from 360 to 440 kN, the shear cracking strength and the maximum shear strength increased by 6.9% and 10.0%, respectively. It was demonstrated that an arch mechanism formed in the tested FRP post-tensioned beams, although the contribution of aggregate interlock to the shear capacity was negligible. The predictions of the shear capacity calculated from various shear design models showed that the American and Japanese recommendations were highly conservative, whereas the Canadian recommendations were more consistent with the experimental results.

Automated summary

The study investigated the shear behavior of post-tensioned concrete beams with FRP reinforcements. It was found that increasing the amount of flexural reinforcement and prestressing level led to higher shear cracking strength and maximum shear strength in the beams. The total prestressing force had a significant impact on the shear capacity of the beams.