Experimental study on flexural behavior of GFRP reinforced concrete beams

Glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) has been investigated and popularly used as internal reinforcement in the construction field worldwide. Although GFRP is not easy to be corroded, employing it requires an avoidance of the brittle failure mode in order to replace traditional reinforced concrete in designing flexural elements. Therefore, this study brings an incisive view to flexural behavior of concrete beams with GFRP as reinforcements in contribution to apply GFRP to coastal and island construction in Vietnam. This study is based on the tested beams under 3-point bending test and theoretical analysis. The moment resistance of GFRP reinforced concrete beams was designed according to ACI 440-1R code. Materials including GFRP bars and concrete to fabricate tested beams were produced in Vietnam. The investigation reached a conclusion that GFRP is eligible for manufacturing flexural components, which is a potential alternative for traditional concrete in the construction industry.