This study investigates the impact of varying glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) stirrup spacing on the performance of doubly GFRP-reinforced concrete beams. The research focuses on assessing the behavior of GFRP-reinforced concrete beams, including load-carrying capacity, cracking, and deformability. It explores the feasibility and effectiveness of GFRP bars as an alternative to traditional steel reinforcement in concrete structures. Six concrete beams with a cross-section of 300 mm (wide) × 250 mm (deep), simply supported on a 2100 mm span, were tested. The beams underwent four-point bending with two concentrated loads applied symmetrically at one-third of the span length, resulting in a shear span (a)-to-depth (h) ratio of 2.8. The experimental findings reveal that altering the GFRP stirrup spacing along the longitudinal axis of the beams, from 200 mm (equivalent to the effective depth (d)) to 50 mm (equal to (d⁄4)), altered the mode of failure from flexure-shear to flexure-compression. However, when the spacing was equal to or less than (d⁄3), there was no significant improvement in load-carrying capacity, as the contribution of GFRP bars in resisting shear loads was limited. Under service loads, the GFRP-reinforced beams exhibited wider cracks, but reducing the stirrup spacing helped restrain crack widening. Incorporating GFRP bars in the compression zone had a positive effect on reducing crack width in the tension zone. Additionally, using GFRP stirrups with spacing varying between (d) and (d⁄2) in the pure bending region increased the deflection ductility indexes. To enhance the ductility of GFRP-reinforced concrete beams, it is recommended to use GFRP stirrups in the pure bending region with spacing greater than the spacing between GFRP stirrups in the shear spans. The study highlights that the current ACI code overestimates the shear capacity provided by GFRP stirrups, particularly when the spacing is less than or equal to (d⁄3). Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2024-010-02-011 Full Text: PDF
This article presents the results of an experimental investigation of using carbon fiber–reinforced polymer sheets to enhance the behavior of reinforced concrete deep beams with large web openings in shear spans. A set of 18 specimens were fabricated and tested up to a failure to evaluate the structural performance in terms of cracking, deformation, and load-carrying capacity. All tested specimens were with 1500-mm length, 500-mm cross-sectional deep, and 150-mm wide. Parameters that studied were opening size, opening location, and the strengthening factor. Two deep beams were implemented as control specimens without opening and without strengthening. Eight deep beams were fabricated with openings but without strengthening, while
... Show MoreMost studies on deep beams have been made with reinforced concrete deep beams, only a few studies investigate the response of prestressed deep beams, while, to the best of our knowledge, there is not a study that investigates the response of full scale (T-section) prestressed deep beams with large web openings. An experimental and numerical study was conducted in order to investigate the shear strength of ordinary reinforced and partially prestressed full scale (T-section) deep beams that contain large web openings in order to investigate the prestressing existence effects on the deep beam responses and to better understand the effects of prestressing locations and opening depth to beam depth ratio on the deep beam performance and b
... Show MoreApplying load to a structural member may result in a bottle-shaped compression field especially when the width of the loading is less than the width of bearing concrete members. At the Building and Construction Department – the University of Technology-Iraq, series tests on fibre reinforced concrete specimens were carried out, subjected to compression forces at the top and bottom of the specimens to produce compression field. The effects of steel fibre content, concrete compressive strength, transverse tension reinforcement, the height of test specimen, and the ratio of the width of loading plate to specimen width were studied by testing a total of tenth normal strength concrete blocks with steel fibre and one normal s
... Show MoreThe main objective of this study is to characterize the main factors which may affect the behavior of segmental prestressed concrete beams comprised of multi segments. The 3-D finite element program ABAQUS was utilized. The experimental work was conducted on twelve simply supported segmental prestressed concrete beams divided into three groups depending on the precast segments number. They all had an identical total length of 3150mm, but each had different segment numbers (9, 7, and 5 segments), in other words, different segment lengths. To simulate the genuine fire disasters, nine beams were exposed to high-temperature flame for one hour, the selected temperatures were 300°C (572°F), 500°C (932°F) and 700°C (1292°F) as recomm
... Show MoreIn this study, the response of ten composite post-tensioned concrete beams topped by a reinforced concrete deck with adequate reinforcing shear connectors is investigated. Depending on the concrete compressive strength of the deck slab (20, 30, and 40 MPa), beams are grouped into three categories. Seven of these beams are exposed to a fire attack of 700 and 800 °C temperature simultaneously with or without the presence of a uniformly distributed sustained static loading. After cooling back to ambient temperature, these composite beams are loaded up to failure, using a force control module, by monotonic static loading in a four-point-bending setup with two symmetrical concentrated loads applied in
In this study, the response of ten composite post-tensioned concrete beams topped by a reinforced concrete deck with adequate reinforcing shear connectors is investigated. Depending on the concrete compressive strength of the deck slab (20, 30, and 40 MPa), beams are grouped into three categories. Seven of these beams are exposed to a fire attack of 700 and 800 °C temperature simultaneously with or without the presence of a uniformly distributed sustained static loading. After cooling back to ambient temperature, these composite beams are loaded up to failure, using a force control module, by monotonic static loading in a four-point-bending setup with two symmetrical concentrated loads applied in
A long-span Prestressed Concrete Hunched Beam with Multi-Opening has been developed as an alternative to steel structural elements. The commercial finite element package ABAQUS/CAE version 2019 has been utilized. This article has presented the results of three-dimensional numerical simulations investigating the flexural behaviour of existing experimental work of supported Prestressed Concrete Hunched Beams with multiple openings of varying shapes under static monotonic loads. Insertion openings in such a beam lead to concentrate stresses at the corners of these openings; as a result, extensive cracking would appear. Correlation between numerical models and empirical work has also been discussed regarding load displacemen
... Show MoreAn effort is made to study the effect of composite nanocoating using aluminum-9%wt silicon alloys reinforced with different percentage (0.5,1,2,4)wt.% of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) using plasma spraying. The effect of this composite on corrosion behavior for AA6061-T6 by extrapolation Tafel test in sea water 3.5wt% NaCl was invested. Many specimens where prepared from AA6061-T6 by the dimension (15x15x3)mm as this first set up and other steps include coating process, X-ray diffraction and SEM examination .The results show the CNTs increase the corrosion rate of the nanocomposite coatings with increasing the weight percentage of CNTs within the Al-Si matrix. Al-9wt%Si coating layer itself has less corrosion rate if compared with both n
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