Impact resistance of concrete plates reinforced with a fiber reinforced plastic grid

Corrosion of steel in concrete is a major durability concern, and nonmetallic fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) reinforcement has, therefore, received much attention lately. While a significant amount of research is being con ducted to assess the static behavior of concrete components reinforced with FRP reinforcement, relatively little is known about their performance under impact or dynamic loads. This is of major concern given that FRP reinforcement is brittle and linear elastic to failure. In the research reported here, concrete plates reinforced with FRP grids were subjected to a transverse impact load at a stressing rate nearly 10(5) times the static rate, and the impact load vs. load-point-displacement plots were obtained rate, applying the inertial correction. The influence of concrete strength and the use of fiber reinforced concrete were investigated. The plates reinforced with FRP were found to fail in a brittle manner and absorb only a third of the energy absorbed by a companion plate reinforced with traditional steel. The use of fiber reinforced concrete, however, was found to completely alleviate the problem of brittleness in plates reinforced with FRP reinforcement.