Flexural Response of Concrete Beams Reinforced with Steel and Fiber Reinforced Polymers

Abstract

This paper numerically investigates the flexural response of concrete beams reinforced with steel and four types of Fiber-Reinforced Polymers (FRP), i.e., Carbon FRP (CFRP), Glass FRP (GFRP), Aramid FRP (AFRP), and Basalt FRP (BFRP). The flexural responses of forty beams with two boundary conditions (simply supported and over-hanging beams) were determined using ABAQUS. Subsequently, the finite element models were validated using experimental results. Eventually, the impact of the reinforcement ratios ranging between 0.15% and 0.60% on the flexural capacity, crack pattern, and fracture energy were investigated for all beams. The results revealed that, for the low reinforcement ratios, the flexural performance of CFRP significantly surpassed that of steel and other FRP types. As the reinforcement ratio reached 0.60%, the steel bars exhibited the best flexural performance.