Substitution effects of conventional concrete with high-performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composite (HPFRCC) in beams reinforced with GFRP bars

Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) composite bars with high anti-corrosion property, and tensile strength should be designed, so that concrete in the compression zone reaches its ultimate tension before the rupture of bars. In this paper, the effect of employing High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Cementitious Composite (HPFRCC) concrete instead of conventional concrete to achieve higher tensile and compressive strain of concrete and greater use of the ultimate capacity of GFRP composite bars was experimentally evaluated. Two groups of concrete beams, totally 10 specimens, reinforced with GFRP bars were considered, where the reinforcement ratios were higher than and equal the balance ratios in the first and second groups with two different conventional or HPFRCC concretes as the tensile or compressive or mixed-used layers. The results revealed that the use of HPFRCC concrete instead of conventional concrete led to changing the mode fracture from brittle to ductile, improving the ductility and effective stiffness, increasing the energy absorption capacity up to 120 %. Meanwhile, the reduction resistance coefficient of concrete beams reinforced with GFRP using HPFRCC concrete was improved at a rate of about 20 %. Using the HPFRCC concrete, the type of fracture is transformed from brittle fracture to ductile fracture.