Deflection of concrete structures reinforced with FRP bars

This paper presents an analytical procedure based on the stiffness matrix method for deflection prediction of concrete structures reinforced with fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) bars. The variation of flexural stiffness of cracked FRP reinforced concrete members has been evaluated using various available models for the effective moment of inertia. A reduced shear stiffness model was also employed to account for the variation of shear stiffness in cracked regions. Comparisons between results obtained from the proposed analytical procedure and experiments of simply and continuously supported FRP reinforced concrete beams show good agreement. Bottom FRP reinforcement at midspan section has a significant effect on the reduction of FRP reinforced concrete beam deflections. The shear deformation effect was found to be more influential in continuous FRP reinforced concrete beams than simply supported beams. The proposed analytical procedure forms the basis for the analysis of concrete frames reinforced with FRP concrete members. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.