Shear Strength of GFRP-Reinforced Concrete Continuous Beams with Minimum Transverse Reinforcement

This paper investigates the shear behavior of continuous concrete beams reinforced with glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars and stirrups. A total of six beams, with 200 x 300 mm rectangular cross section and continuous over two spans of 2,800 mm each, were constructed and tested. Three main variables, namely, concrete strength, longitudinal reinforcement ratio, and transverse shear-reinforcement ratio, were investigated. Two beams were without transverse reinforcement to evaluate the concrete contribution to the shear strength and four beams had GFRP stirrups to examine the minimum shear-reinforcement contribution to the shear strength. All test specimens were designed to satisfy an assumed 20% moment redistribution. It was observed that all test specimens failed in shear near the interior support after significant moment redistribution from hogging moment to sagging moment regions. In addition, the test results were compared with the predictions of the CSA-S806-12, CSA-S6-06, and ACI 440.1R-06. (C) 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.