Flexural behaviour of GFRP reinforced concrete beams

Reinforced concrete has been used for structures for a long time, mainly steel reinforced concrete. An alternative is required since steel has some flaws. One of the most significant steel's defect is corrosion, which shortens the life of steel reinforced structures, it results in repairing costs etc. Furthermore, steel is not eco-friendly at all, a ton of steel production produces 1.89 tons of CO2 as byproduct. Alternatives, including as GFRP, BFRP, AFRP, and CFRP bars, are available and being produced for use as internal reinforcement, although they are not widely used. The reason for this is the cost of some of these materials, such as CFRP, which is almost 30 times more expensive than steel. For others very little research has been done on concrete reinforced with these materials, with respect to steel reinforced beams, for which there is not any doubts on how to design.In this study, empirical formulas for flexure design of GFRP reinforced beams are derived. For this purpose publications from literature were analyzed, and data on GFRP-reinforced beams tested in bending with 3 or 4 point bending tests were gathered. The formula is derived by numerical simulations, using moment-curvature relationship. This formula is then validated by comparing it to the experimental results from these tests.