Deep beams are common elements in concrete structures such as bridges, water tanks, and parking garages, which are usually exposed to harsh environments. To mitigate corrosion-induced damage in these structures, steel reinforcement is replaced by fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs). Several attempts have been made during the last decade to introduce empirical models to estimate the shear strength of FRP-reinforced concrete (RC) deep beams. In this study, the applicability of these models to predict the capacity of simply supported deep beams with and without web reinforcement was assessed. Test results of 54 FRP-RC, 24 steel-fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC), and 7 FRP-FRC deep beams were used to evaluate the available models. In addition, a proposed model to predict the shear strength of FRPFRC deep beams was introduced. The model was calibrated against experiments conducted previously by the authors on FRP-FRC deep beams under gravity load. The model could predict the ultimate capacity with a mean experimental-to-predicted value of 1.04 and a standard deviation of 0.14.

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcements for concrete structures and civil engineering applications have become one of the innovative and fast-growing technologies to stop the rapid degradation of conventional steel-reinforced concrete infrastructure. FRP reinforcements for construction can be divided into three main types: 1. External sheets or plates to rehabilitate and repair existing concrete and masonry structures, and in some cases steel and wood structures; 2. Internal FRP bars or tendons for new and existing reinforced concrete structures, and 3. FRP stay-in-place forms to be filled with unreinforced or reinforced concrete. A considerable and valuable development and application’s work has been accomplished during the last three decades, leading to the development of numerous design guidelines and codes around the world, making the FRP-reinforcement technology one of the fast-growing markets in the construction industry. During the ACI Concrete Convention, Fall 2021, four full sessions were sponsored and organized by ACI Committee 440. Session S1 was focused on the bond and durability of internal FRP bars; Session S2 on codes, design examples, and applications of FRP internal reinforcements; Session S3 on external FRP reinforcements; and Session S4 on new systems and applications of FRP reinforcements, such as CFFT post-tensioned beams, GFRP-reinforced concrete sandwich panels, FRP-reinforced masonry walls, CFFT under impact lateral loading, near-surface mounted FRP-bars, and GFRP-reinforced-UHPC bridge deck joints.

Glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars show promise as a non-corrosive reinforcement alternative for coastal marine applications. Designers are reluctant to use new material systems without guidance or case studies demonstrating successful implementation. For the case of precast concrete piles, the current practice is prestressing with carbon steel strands. In this paper, a seawall replacement project in South Florida allowed for the demonstration of the use of reinforced concrete (RC) piles using GFRP bars and spirals. The field performance of the GFRP-RC piling system was validated by collecting data during driving by means of a pile driving analyzer (PDA). The measured internal stresses in the pile were compared with code requirements and concrete compressive strength determined from laboratory tests. The structural design used for these GFRP-RC piles and field-collected data on pile resistance, stresses, and integrity is presented and discussed in this paper.

This paper investigates the use of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars to reinforce the jointed precast bridge deck slabs built integrally with steel I-girders. In addition to a cast-in-place slab, three full-size, GFRPreinforced, precast concrete slabs were erected to perform static and fatigue tests under a truck wheel load. Each slab had 200 mm (7.9 in) thickness, 2500 mm (98.4 in) width normal to traffic, and 3500 mm (137.8 in) length in the direction of traffic and was supported over a braced twin-steel girder system. The closure strip between connected precast slabs has a width of 125 mm (4.9 in) with a vertical shear key, filled with ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC). Sand-coated GFRP bars in the precast slab project into the closure strip with a headed end to provide a 100 mm (3.9 in) embedment length. A static test and two fatigue tests were performed, namely: (i) accelerated variable amplitude cyclic loading and (ii) constant amplitude cyclic loading, followed by static loading to collapse. Test results demonstrated excellent fatigue performance of the developed closure strip details, with the ultimate load-carrying capacity of the slab far greater than the demand. While the failure in the cast-in-place slab was purely punching shear, the failure mode in the jointed precast slabs was punching shear failure with incomplete cone-shape peroration through the UHPC closure strip, combined with a major transverse flexural crack in the UHPC strip. This may be attributed to the fact that the UHPC joint diverted the load distribution pattern towards a flexural mode in the UHPC strip itself close to failure.

One of the successful techniques utilizing fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement in concrete retrofit is by embedding bars or strips in pre-cut grooves, forming what is collectively known as near surface mounted (NSM). While a great deal of research and attention has been devoted to evaluating NSM-FRP in retrofitting statically determinate members, limited work is given to indeterminate structures. In this study, a three-dimensional finite element (FE) model is developed to evaluate the behavior of continuously reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened in the negative and positive moment regions with NSM-FRP bars. The model included robust features such as concrete damage plasticity (CDP), FRP failure, and slipping and debonding of FRP bars and was calibrated with tests on 6 m long two-span continuous beams. It was able to predict load-deflection and load strain responses, for different FRP reinforcement ratios and lengths, with a maximum 8% deviation for the loads at steel yielding and at ultimate. Failures observed in tests, namely, concrete cover separation, cracking and crushing, and FRP bar debonding from adhesive, at both the hogging and sagging regions, were also reasonably simulated. The model will be used next in examining behavioral aspects in detail, evaluating the effects of multiple geometric and material parameters, and assisting in developing design recommendations for NSM FRP-strengthened continuous RC beams.