Evaluating Behavior of Shear-Critical Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer-Reinforced Concrete Beams

Two shear-critical beams completely reinforced with glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars were constructed and tested in the current study. One beam was tested at room temperature and the second beam was subjected to accelerated thermal conditioning to simulate long-term behavior of GFRP-reinforced concrete (RC) beams, considering the recent climate challenges leading to increasing temperatures across the world. Conditioning of the beam was carried out at 50 degrees C (122 degrees F) for 4 months under 60% relative humidity while subjected to sustained load throughout the conditioning period. No significant change in behavior was observed because of the conditioning. Additionally, and ACI 440.1R) to estimate the shear strength of shear-critical beams were critically evaluated and discussed. It was noticed that the inclusion of a second-order equation to predict the shear contribution from concrete (Vc) seemed to improve the accuracy of the predictions.