An experimental study of the flexural behaviour of GFRP RC beams and comparison with prediction models

The use of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bars in reinforced concrete (RC) structures has emerged as an alternative to traditional RC due to the corrosion of steel in aggressive environments. Although the number of analytical and experimental studies on RC beams with FRP reinforcement has increased in recent decades, it is still lower than the number of such studies related to steel RC structures. This paper presents the results and discussion of an experimental programme concerning concrete beams reinforced with glass-FRP (GFRP) bars with a relatively high modulus of elasticity. The main aim of the study is to evaluate the short-term flexural behaviour by varying the reinforcement ratio and the effective depth-to-height ratio. Code formulations and other prediction models are examined and compared with experimental results at serviceability and ultimate limit states. For the tested beams current provisions predict reasonably well the behaviour up to service load. However, at the ultimate limit state, load capacity is underestimated. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.