Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) Reinforced Concrete Slabs with Low Cover in Fire

One of the main safety requirements in the design of buildings is ensuring safe and appropriate fire endurance of the structures. To fill the knowledge gap on the fire resistance of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforced concrete members, comprehensive experimental and analytical studies are underway at Queen's University with collaboration from industry and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). As a part of the program, two full-scale glass FRP (GFRP) reinforced concrete slabs were tested under exposure to the ASTM-E119 standard fire. The slabs were identical except that they were reinforced with different types of GFRP and tested to examine the adequacy of 40 mm of clear concrete cover. Currently, CSA-S806 allows a simplified method to design concrete slabs with FRP reinforcement and this results in a requirement for clear concrete cover of approximately 60 mm to achieve a 2 hour fire resistance rating. The test results showed that the slabs endured beyond 3 hours of fire exposure while resisting a high level of sustained load that was higher than the expected service load.