The use of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites for external bonding has become a popular and widely accepted technique for enhancing the strength of concrete structures due to its excellent mechanical performance, corrosion resistance, and ease of construction. However, premature debonding is a major challenge as it prevents the full capacity of FRP composites from being achieved, resulting in material waste. Recently, grooving the surface of concrete before bonding FRP has emerged as a potential solution to this problem. Several experimental studies have evaluated the bond strength of FRP-to-concrete joints with grooves. To facilitate the practical application of this technique, it is necessary to develop comprehensive reliability-based design guidelines that account for the uncertainty arising from various aspects such as materials, model errors, and loading. A critical factor of such analysis is the calibration of model uncertainty which significantly affects the accuracy of reliability-based design and analysis. The objective of this study was to measure the model uncertainty of the existing prediction model for FRP-to-concrete joint with a longitudinal groove by involving the model factor which is defined as the ratio of observed values from experimental test to calculated values from prediction models. To eliminate the potential correlation from critical parameters, the residual model factor was isolated from model factor by separating the systematic part. The lognormal distribution was found to be the most suitable distribution function to describe the residual model factor, and the mean and variance were determined. With this newfound knowledge, we are better equipped to account for uncertainties in the design and construction of FRP-to-concrete connections with grooves, which will ultimately result in more durable and reliable structural improvements.

Corrosion of reinforcement steel is a major issue for many structural concrete components, because it leads to strength reduction and may significantly reduce the service life. For this reason, fiber-reinforced polymer rebars (FRP rebars) have been developed, as they represent a viable alternative that may replace reinforcing steel for structures that are particularly susceptible to corrosion issues. However, structural design philosophies for these new materials are still in development and further research is needed to implement FRP rebars properly and safely in design codes but also to ensure that design calculations properly predict the actual behavior and performance of FRP reinforced structures.

This study was conducted to evaluate the strength and structural deformation behavior of flexural beams that were designed according to Eurocode 2 and, for comparison, according to different design methods pro-posed for FRP reinforced structures. With regard to the development of a uniform design concept for alternative reinforcement materials existing in Germany/Europe, different bending design concepts includ-ing the serviceability limit state were evaluated. In addition, the theoretically calculated and predicted strength/deformation were compared to the experimentally obtained measurements. A total of 15 flexu-ral beams, with ans overall length of 4.5 m (177 in.), a width of 200 mm (7.8 in.), and a height of 400 mm (15.8 in.), were cast; three of these beams (designed according to Eurocode 2) featured traditional steel rein-forcement, to serve as control group. The remaining 12 flexural beams were evenly allocated to capture the two alternative reinforcement materials, while generating three different reinforcement distribution patterns with comparable reinforcement ratios (equivalent cross-sectional areas). Thus, a total of six subgroups –three with GFRP and three with BFRP – each with two specimens, were analized. To test all beam in pure bending and to eliminate the influence from shear forces, two equally increasing loads were applied at the (longitudinal) third-points of the beams. Both deflections and loads were measured at several points to evaluate the structural performance of the FRP reinforced structural members.

The results showed that the deflection of the glass fiber reinforced bars at the design load capacity measured twice as much as the deflection of the control group. Almost three times as much deflection (at the same load) was observed for the concrete beams reinforced with basalt fiber rebars. In addition, it was observed that the concrete beams with glass and basalt fiber reinforcement bars showed a nearly elastic-elastic behavior up to the point of failure, whereas the steel-reinforced concrete beams showed an elastic-plastic behavior. However, the deformational behavior differed between the various beam types. While the prevailing equations properly captured the post-cracking performance of traditionally reinforced concrete beams, they do not adequately predict the deflections of FRP reinforced concrete beams. From the measurements and analyses, it was concluded that the serviceability limit state (SST) is more critical than the ultimate limit state (LTS) for the design of concrete flexural beams reinforced with FRP rebars.

The use of FRP tendons has become an attractive alternative to steel tendons in prestressed concrete structures to avoid strength and serviceability problems related to corrosion of steel. There is however a lack of knowledge in serviceability behavior related to deflection after cracking for beams prestressed with FRP tendons. Conventional approaches used to compute deflection of cracked members prestressed with steel is problematic at best, and the situation is exacerbated further with the use of FRP tendons having a lower modulus of elasticity than steel. Deflection of FRP reinforced (nonprestressed) concrete flexural members computed with Branson’s effective moment of inertia 𝐼􀀁 requires a correction factor (called a softening factor) that reduces the member stiffness sufficiently to provide reasonable estimates of post-cracking deflection. For FRP prestressed concrete however, this approach does not always work as expected and deflection can be either underestimated or overestimated significantly.

This study investigates the accuracy of different models proposed for estimating deflection of cracked FRP prestressed members using a database of 38 beams collected from the literature. All beams are fully prestressed. Results indicate that using Branson’s effective moment of inertia 𝐼􀀁 with a generic softening factor can produce reasonable estimates of deflection provided the 𝐼􀀁 response is shifted up to the decompression moment or adjusted with an effective prestress moment defined by an effective eccentricity of the prestress force. The former approach overpredicts deflection by 20% on average while the latter overpredicts deflection by not more than 5% based on the beams available for comparison. Assuming a bilinear moment deflection response overpredicts deflection by 12%, while an approach proposed by Bischoff (which also shifts the 𝐼􀀁 response upwards) overpredicts deflection by 23%. These last two approaches work reasonably well without the need for a correction factor.

The seismic performance of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge columns subjected to multidirectional ground motions is a critical issue, as these columns can experience axial compression, bending, and torsional loading. Moreover, steel corrosion is a significant concern in existing bridges, leading to deficiencies in steel-RC structural members. The use of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) reinforcement has been established as a practical and effective solution to mitigate the corrosion-related issues associated with traditional steel reinforcement in concrete structures. However, the dissimilar mechanical properties of GFRP and steel have raised apprehensions regarding its feasibility in seismic-resistant structures. The current study involves conducting an experimental investigation to assess the feasibility of utilizing GFRP reinforcement as a substitute for conventional steel reinforcement in circular RC bridge columns subjected to cyclic lateral loading, which induces shear, bending, and torsion. One column was reinforced with GFRP bars and stirrups, while the other column, served as a control and was reinforced with conventional steel reinforcement. The aim of this investigation was to analyze the lateral displacement deformability and energy dissipation characteristics of the GFRP-RC column. The results showed that GFRP-RC column exhibited stable post-peak behavior and high levels of deformability under the applied combined loading. Additionally, with a torsion-to-bending moment ratio of 0.2, both columns reached similar lateral load and torsional moment capacities and were able to attain lateral-drift capacities exceeding the minimum requirements of North American design codes and guidelines.

Developments in the prestressed concrete industry evolved to incorporate innovative design materials and strategies driven towards a more sustainable and durable infrastructure. With steel corrosion being the biggest durability issue for concrete bridges, FRP tendons have been gaining acceptance in modern prestressed technologies, as bonded or unbonded reinforcement, or as part of a “hybrid” system that combines unbonded CFRP tendons and bonded steel strands. Assessments of the efficacy of hybrid-steel beams, combining bonded and unbonded steel tendons. in the construction of segmental bridges and in retrofitting damaged members has been established by several researchers. However, limited research has been conducted on comparable hybrid prestressed beams combining CFRP and steel tendons (hybrid steel-cfrp beams). This paper provides an insight on the flexural behaviour of eighteen prestressed beams tested under third-point loading until failure with the emphasis on the tendon materials (i.e., CFRP and steel) and bonding condition (i.e., bonded, unbonded). In addition, a comprehensive finite element analysis of the beams’ overall behaviour following the trussed-beam methodology is conducted and compared with the experimental results. Results show that hybrid beams, utilizing CFRP as the unbonded element maintained comparable performance when compared to hybrid steel beams. The results presented in this paper aim to expand the use of hybrid tendons and facilitate their incorporation into standard design provisions and guidelines.