Experimental investigations on the behavior of GFRP bar reinforced HSC and UHSC beams under static and impact loading

This paper presents an experimental investigation into the behavior of Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bar reinforced high strength concrete and ultra-high strength concrete beams. In total, twelve GFRP bar reinforced concrete beams (GFRP-RC beams) were constructed and tested. Six GFRP-RC beams were tested under static loading. Higher strength concrete was found to influence the overall behavior of GFRP-RC beams under static loading in terms of load carrying capacity, deflection, and post-cracking bending stiffness. Six GFRP-RC beams were tested under impact loading at various levels of impact energy. The GFRP-RC beams displayed a shift in the failure mode (from shear failure to flexure failure) as a result of the use of ultra-high strength concrete under impact loading.