Behavior and shear strength of FRC beams with FRP bars: state-of-the-art review, comparative analysis, experimental and numerical validations

Abstract

The present study provides an integrated approach to the shear behavior and strength prediction of FRC beams reinforced with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP). For this purpose, a database consisting of 68 beam test results in the literature for the assessment of 10 existing shear strength models and design code provisions for FRC beams reinforced by FRP reinforcement, together with the newly proposed analytical model that has been validated using 51 test data points and checked using the remaining 17 test data points for verification. From the assessment using the database approach, the study concluded that shear performance can be increased by increasing the fiber volume fraction by 217%, while steel fibers combined at the micro- and macro-scales offer the best performance for FRC beams reinforced with FRP reinforcement. From the assessment of the various shear strength models and design code provisions for FRC beams reinforced by FRP reinforcement using the database approach, the study concluded that the newly proposed model together with three existing models and design code provisions can provide more consistency and safety compared to the existing shear strength models by providing an average safety margin of 62%, while the rest of the existing shear strength models show significant variability for the assessment of the shear performance of FRC beams reinforced by FRP reinforcement. In order to validate the trends provided by the newly proposed model for the shear performance prediction of FRC beams reinforced by FRP reinforcement, FRC beams reinforced by 0.4% and 0.8% recycled strap fibers were experimentally tested and validated using the ABAQUS code. In this study the data from 21 references from the literature has been extracted to predict and test the analytical investigation presented.