Prediction of Punching Shear Capacity of Two-Ways FRP Reinforced Concrete Slabs

An innovative solution to the corrosion problem is the use of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) as an alternative reinforcing material in concrete structures. In addition to the non corrodible nature of FRP materials, they also have a high strength-to-weight ratio that makes them attractive as reinforcement for concrete structures. Extensive research programs have been carried out to investigate the flexural behavior of concrete members reinforced with FRP reinforcement. On the other hand, the shear behavior of concrete members, especially punching shear of two-way slabs, reinforced with FRP bars has not yet been fully explored. The existing provisions for punching of slabs in most international design standards for reinforced concrete are based on tests of steel reinforced slabs. The elastic stiffness and bonding characteristics of FRP reinforcement are sufficiently different from those of steel to affect punching strength. In the present study, the equations of existing design standards for shear capacity of FRP reinforced concrete beams have been evaluated using the large database collected. The experimental punching shear strengths were compared with the available theoretical predictions, including the CSA S806 (CSA 2012), ACI-440.1R-15 (ACI 2015), BS 8110 (BSI 1997), JSCE (1997) a number of models proposed by some researchers in the literature. The existing design methods for FRP reinforced concrete slabs give conservative predictions for the specimens in the database. This paper also presents a simple yet improved model to calculate the punching shear capacity of FRPreinforced concrete slabs. The proposed model provides the accurate results in calculating the punching shear strengths of FRP-reinforced concrete slender slabs.