Thermal-stress analysis of RC beams reinforced with GFRP bars

This paper aims to develop a 3D nonlinear finite element (FE) model that is capable of accurately predicting the performance of reinforced concrete (RC) beams reinforced with internal Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars when exposed to fire loading. The developed FE model is based on tested experimental data collected from the open literature. The model accounts for the variation in the thermal and mechanical constituent materials with temperature associated with the RC beam. To study the heat transfer mechanism and mechanical behavior of the RC beam, transient thermal-stress finite element analysis is performed using the ANSYS. It was shown that the FE predicted temperature and mid-span deflection results are in a good agreement with that of the measured experimental data. The validated FE model is used to conduct a parametric study to investigate the effect of the different parameters on the flexural performance of the reinforced beam specimens. The parametric study consisted of varying the concrete cover thickness as well as exposing the FE model to different fire curves. It is concluded that successful FE modeling of this structure would provide an economical and alternative solution to expensive and time consuming experimental testing. Other observations and recommendations are also discussed.