Study on Flexural Performance of Fiber Reinforced Concrete Beams Using Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer Bars and Steel Rebars

Traditionally, reinforced concrete structures are constructed using steel rebars as reinforcement which is more susceptible to reinforcement corrosion in severe exposure conditions. This leads to many disadvantages, like deterioration of concrete, reduction in strength, and increase in maintenance costs, which leads to a decrease in the serviceability of critical infrastructure. Fiber Reinforced Polymer bars are often used as alternative materials for steel bars because they are anti-corrosive, exhibit an excellent strength-to-weight ratio and are easy to handle but the main disadvantage is its brittle nature. Hence, the combination of steel and FRP bars was effectively used to augment both flexural capacity and ductility. As the ductility performance of hybrid Reinforcement is lower than conventional reinforced beams, Polyvinyl Alcohol Fibers in volume fraction were added in this investigation. The present investigation aims to determine the flexural capacity of reinforced concrete beams using Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars and Steel bars. The optimum dosage of PVA fibers while evaluating compressive and split tensile strength is observed at 0.25% in volume fraction. Total six types of concrete beam specimens with and without PVA fibers were experimentally under four-point bending test tested such as beams reinforced with only steel bars, only GFRP bars, GFRP and steel bars. From the experimental results, it is observed that inclusion of PVA fibers in proposed beams with hybrid reinforcement enhanced the crack resistance by 80% and ultimate load capacity by 39% when compared with conventional beam.