The applicability of pultruded Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymers (GFRP) bars as reinforcing material in concrete elements offers numerous opportunities across different fields given that, unlike traditional steel rebars, these materials are not subject to corrosion issues; in addition, they have a lightweight nature and remarkable mechanical strength. This makes them ideal for applications in aggressive environments and for structures that require long service life with minimal maintenance. One of the objectives of this study is to analyze the behavior of concrete sections reinforced with GFRP rebars, either with configurations involving the use of pultruded bars only or in hybrid form, i.e., with steel and GFRP bars together. Through a precise definition of the main mechanical properties and of the constitutive law of pultruded rebars, it was possible to evaluate the section behavior. Alternative and optimized configurations were investigated so to obtain a proper nonlinear behavior of the hybrid cross sections, which was compared to the behavior of ordinary reinforced concrete sections in terms of strength and ductility properties. For the evaluation of the structural behavior of frames composed by structural concrete elements reinforced with GFRP rebars, three 2D models of a simple frame were considered, either employing cross sections reinforced with pultruded or steel rebars only, or with a hybrid reinforcing solution. Nonlinear static analyses were performed and the structural behavior of the frames was compared. In summary, this study explored how the use of such innovative reinforcing solutions can represent a valid option for the design of structures in civil engineering applications.

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Optimization of Steel and GFRP Reinforcements for Concrete Elements: Sectional and Structural Analyses

  • Tommaso Baroni,
  • Francesca Ferretti,
  • Claudio Mazzotti

摘要

The applicability of pultruded Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymers (GFRP) bars as reinforcing material in concrete elements offers numerous opportunities across different fields given that, unlike traditional steel rebars, these materials are not subject to corrosion issues; in addition, they have a lightweight nature and remarkable mechanical strength. This makes them ideal for applications in aggressive environments and for structures that require long service life with minimal maintenance. One of the objectives of this study is to analyze the behavior of concrete sections reinforced with GFRP rebars, either with configurations involving the use of pultruded bars only or in hybrid form, i.e., with steel and GFRP bars together. Through a precise definition of the main mechanical properties and of the constitutive law of pultruded rebars, it was possible to evaluate the section behavior. Alternative and optimized configurations were investigated so to obtain a proper nonlinear behavior of the hybrid cross sections, which was compared to the behavior of ordinary reinforced concrete sections in terms of strength and ductility properties. For the evaluation of the structural behavior of frames composed by structural concrete elements reinforced with GFRP rebars, three 2D models of a simple frame were considered, either employing cross sections reinforced with pultruded or steel rebars only, or with a hybrid reinforcing solution. Nonlinear static analyses were performed and the structural behavior of the frames was compared. In summary, this study explored how the use of such innovative reinforcing solutions can represent a valid option for the design of structures in civil engineering applications.