Accuracy of Existing Theoretical Models on the Assessment of the Design Shear Capacity of Slender RC Beams with Steel and GFRP Rods Without Transverse Reinforcement

Abstract

AbstractThe paper is devoted to the shear of slender concrete beams without transversal reinforcement flexurally reinforced with two types of reinforcement: steel and GFRP (glass fiber reinforced polymer). The research program included 29 single-span, simply supported T-section beams (b = 400 mm, bw = 150 mm, hf = 60 mm, htot = 400 mm) with the axis span of 1800 mm. The three point loaded beams (with the load located at a distance of 1100 mm from the support) had the shear span to depth ratio a/d in the range of 2.9–3.0 referring to the slender beams. The four times lower elasticity modulus of the GFRP reinforcement caused a gradual, progressive shear tension failure mode, opposite to the abrupt failure mode peculiar to the RC beams. The difference in the elasticity modulus of both types of reinforcement resulted in the increase in the shear capacity of the RC beams in the range between 30% and 66% comparing to the shear capacity of the GFRP reinforced beams with the same reinforcement ratio. The paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the test results in relation to the design shear capacity according to the selected theoretical models. The generalized assessment of computational analysis indicated that the predicted shear capacity values calculated according to selected models gave good agreement with the experimental results.KeywordsShearSlender beamsT-cross section beamsGFRPCapacityDesign models