Flexural capacity calculation of hybrid bar reinforced concrete beams

Abstract

Reinforcing concrete with a combination of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) bars and steel bars promises considerable bearing capacity, serviceability and durability. Flexural behaviours that include failure modes and bearing capacity were investigated in detail with the hybrid FRP/steel bar reinforced beams. According to the mechanical properties of the reinforced beams, two nominal balance reinforcement ratios and three failure modes were determined. Through theoretical analysis, a convenient and practical method was established to estimate the flexural capacity of hybrid FRP/steel bar reinforced beams. To verify the accuracy of the proposed method, some experimental flexural capacity data in existing researches were adopted to validate our proposed method, and the results showed that the proposed method is able to predict the flexural capacity accurately.