Bending load capacity of carbon fiber reinforced concrete beams as a function of fiber performance index (FPI)

Abstract

Over the past several decades, textile reinforced concrete (TRC) materials have been developed due to their superior mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, lightweight application, and high load-bearing capacity. In this study, the effect of three main factors on bending load capacity of carbon fiber reinforced concrete (CFRC) beams is investigated; the number of reinforcements (carbon-fiber rovings), penetration of the cement within the fibers, and the post-cracking factor. The second and third factors are defined as the fiber performance index (FPI) for evaluating bending load capacity of CFRC beams. The best FPI for a different number of reinforcements was estimated using empirical values of bending load capacity of CFRC beams. The results were indicative of the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed FPI for a wide range of roving numbers, namely 2–24 with 800 tex as the titer. The post-cracking factor was suggested as 2.67 for TRCs and CFRCs materials, which are reinforced by rovings. In order to improve the FPI, the roving was impregnated partially with epoxy, which increased the maximum load capacity and displacement of the beams up to 26.68 and 23.24%, respectively. In addition, the impacts of roving numbers, the first factor, on the failure mode, load-bearing capacity, ductility, and toughness of the CFRC beams were investigated.