Comparative Study on Using Steel and Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer Rebars as Reinforcement on Flexural Behavior of Concrete Beams.

Due to problem of steel corrosion and high cost, the use of glass fiber reinforced polymers (GFRP) has become more convenient to be used widely nowadays. This study implicated experimental, numerical, and analytical comparison between GFRP and steel RC beams. Twelve beams were tested under four-point flexural load till failure, The beams had a clear span of 2000 mm and a cross sectional area width and height of 120 mm and 300 mm, respectively. The beams were categorized into two groups (A and B) from these twelve beams according to reinforcement type (steel or GFRP). Group A consists of four beams while group B includes eight beams. Two reinforcement types were used: high tensile steel (10 mm dia.) and GFRP rebars (8 mm and 10 mm dia.) with reinforcement ratios 0.5% and 1%. Numerical study using ABAQUS 6.14 was performed with the following parameters: concrete strength, diameter of the reinforcing GFRP bars, reinforcement ratio, and type of reinforcement. According to test results, utilizing GFRP bars in beams of 25 MPa concrete strength increased the failure load by an average of 18% and 7% while beams of 35 MPa concrete strength increased by an average of 22% and 11% for beams of 0.5% and 1.0% reinforcement ratio, respectively. The mid-span deflection was dramatically increased when utilizing GFRP bars as opposed to steel bars. A comparison between experimental, analytical, and numerical results was done and showed good consistency.