Flexural behavior of hybrid FRP/steel reinforced concrete beams

This paper presents a numerical method for estimating the curvature, deflection and moment capacity of hybrid FRP/steel reinforced concrete beams. A sectional analysis is first carried out to predict the moment-curvature relationship from which beam deflection and moment capacity are then calculated. Based on the amount of FRP bars, different failure modes were identified, namely tensile rupture of FRP bars and concrete crushing before or after yielding of steel reinforcement. Comparisons between theoretical and experimental results of tests conducted elsewhere show that the proposed numerical technique can accurately predict moment capacity, curvature and deflection of hybrid FRP/steel reinforced concrete beams. The numerical results also indicated that beam ductility and stiffness are improved when steel reinforcement is added to FRP reinforced concrete beams.