Torsional load-bearing capacity of concrete components with rod-shaped reinforcement made of fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP)
Brief description
The production of conventional reinforcing steel is associated with a large consumption of non-renewable raw materials and a considerable amount of energy, thus releasing large quantities of CO2. To address this problem, alternative reinforcement concepts are currently being researched, which include the use of high-performance materials as well as the derivation and improvement of design concepts. Due to their very high strength and corrosion resistance, reinforcement elements made of fiber-reinforced plastics (hereinafter: FRP) are in many cases an alternative to conventional reinforcing steel reinforcement, especially in corrosive environments. As reinforcement corrosion no longer occurs in the component, the concrete cover of FRP components can be reduced, making construction slimmer and saving resources. However, the design models developed for reinforced concrete cannot be used for design without further ado. Extensive test series on components with FRP reinforcement are already available for shear load-bearing capacity, from which corresponding design models could be derived, e.g. in [Kurth 2012]. In contrast, however, there is a lack of findings from tests under torsional loading and it is unclear to what extent conclusions can be drawn from the load-bearing behavior under shear force to the torsional load-bearing capacity. An experimentally verified design concept for concrete components with FRP reinforcement under torsional loading is therefore lacking. In order to be able to utilize the great potential of FRP reinforcement, it must also be possible to take torsional stress into account in the design for economic and, above all, resource-saving reasons. In the proposed research project, aspects of the torsional load-bearing behavior of FRP-reinforced concrete components are to be investigated on the basis of our own component tests and the test results from the specialist literature (e.g. Mohamed, Benmokrane et. al 2015]) and thus possible load-bearing safety deficits are to be excluded. The investigations are intended to serve as the basis for an initial, pragmatic and experimentally verified design approach, for which a first draft is to be created as part of this research project. This should be based on the basic design concept of the DAfStb guideline "Concrete components with non-metallic reinforcement", so that it can be integrated into it in the future if necessary.
