Experimental study on cyclic behavior of hybrid CFRP grids-steel shear walls

Abstract

Hybrid configuration of steel and fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement is an effective approach for improving the overall performances of concrete members. The use of FRP grids in new constructions is increasing owing to their superior anchorage in concrete. In this paper, two types of hybrid carbon-FRP (CFRP) grids-steel shear walls were proposed to evaluate the cyclic behavior in contrast to conventional reinforced concrete (RC) shear wall. Six large-scale shear wall specimens were fabricated and tested under reversed cyclic loading. The investigate parameters include the reinforcement configuration and the hybrid proportion of steel and CFRP grids. Experimental results showed that all shear walls reinforced with CFRP grids exhibited higher load-carrying capacity and smaller residual deformation than those of RC shear wall. The load-carrying capacity of shear wall with CFRP grids placed as exterior layers (CSC) was 7.9% higher than the wall with CFRP grids in the center (SCS). In addition, the load-carrying capacity of shear wall with CSC arrangement increased with the proportion of CFRP grids in reinforcement, while there was an optimal hybrid proportion to the energy dissipation capacity. An increase of 25.8% in load-carrying capacity was achieved compared to RC shear wall with almost the same level of energy dissipation capacity when half of steel reinforcement was replaced by CFRP grids.