Relationship between the shear capacity and the flexural cracking load of FRP reinforced concrete beams

- Relation between shear capacity of Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) concrete beams.
- Shear cracks of FRP reinforced beams formed at the head of the flexural cracks.
- Shear capacity of FRP reinforced beams is proportional to the cracking load.
- Prediction of shear capacity improves with incorporation of different parameters.

This paper focuses on the relationship between the shear capacity and the flexural cracking load of Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) reinforced concrete beams without stirrups. A relationship between the cracking load that causes a beam to crack at the middle of shear span and the shear capacity of the beam is confirmed based on the test results of 29 beams. The relationship was further examined by comparing the test results of 168 FRP reinforced beams and one-way slabs that were collected from literature. All specimens were reinforced in the longitudinal direction only and tested as simply supported conditions subjected to 4-point bending. The concrete compressive strength, reinforcement ratio, shear span-to-depth ratio, and effective depth of the beams in the database were in the range of 24.1-88.3 MPa, 0.12-2.63%, 1.1-6.45, and 141-1111 mm, respectively. The comparison revealed that there is a strong relationship between the cracking loads and the shear capacity of the members. This relationship can be used to develop a shear design method for FRP reinforced members.