Structural efficiency of full-scale timber–concrete composite beams strengthened with fiberglass reinforced polymer

The objective of this article was to experimentally evaluate timber–concrete composite beams in two different situations – with and without glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP). Four full-scale composite beams (5.4 m in length) were produced, two of which had reinforcement (nominal thickness of 10 mm) and two with no reinforcement. The fiberglass reinforcement was formed from the impregnation of unidirectional fiberglass cloth – effective thickness of 0.5 mm – with epoxy resin. The connection system consisted of steel hooks inclined at 45 degrees, bonded with epoxy adhesive to the holes previously drilled on the wood, whose apparent density at 12% moisture content was 0.79 g/cm3. The reinforced timber–concrete composite beams tested had performance efficiency of 79% and average rupture strength of 142.5 kN. Finally, the reinforced timber–concrete composite beams were analytically evaluated using the proposed method in Eurocode5, showing reasonable agreement with the experimental results.