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Although fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) have achieved increasing popularity in strengthening concrete structures and reinforcing new ones, there is to date insufficient knowledge about their long-term behavior. The long-term properties of FRPs specified in design codes lead to the low utilization capacity of these materials and are not supposed to be correct according to the actual behavior of structures reinforced with FRPs after 20 or 30 years of their use. Environmental impact reduction factors limit the mechanical properties of FRP composites in a range from 0.95 for CFRP to 0.5 for GFRP; the creep rupture factor is from 0.9 to 0.2. The paper summarizes previous research and experimental studies on the long-term properties of FRP reinforcements and also their comparison with the actual structures in which this reinforcement has been used; it presents the first part of an experimental investigation with comparative calculations.

This paper focuses on the causes and consequences of early-age cracking of mass concrete foundation slabs due to restrained volume changes. Considering the importance of water leaking through cracks in terms of the serviceability, durability and environmental impact of watertight concrete structures, emphasis is placed on the effect of temperature loads on foundation slabs. Foundation slabs are usually restrained to some degree externally or internally. To evaluate the effect of external restraints on foundation slabs, friction and interaction models are introduced. The reinforcement of concrete cannot prevent the initiation of cracking, but when cracking has occurred, it may act to reduce the spacing and width of cracks. According to EN 1992-1-1, results of calculating crack widths with local variations included in National Annexes (NAs) vary considerably. A comparison of the required reinforcement areas according to different NAs is presented.

The bond between glass fiber-reinforced polymers (GFRPs) and steel reinforcements to concrete is investigated in this study. The experimental program includes two different testing methods (beam tests and pull-out tests) on three different types of reinforcement with various materials, diameters, and surface treatments. For each type of reinforcement rebar and test method, three specimens were tested. A total of 12 beam tests and 12 pull-out tests were performed to analyze the effect of a bar´s diameter, the type of surface treatment, and the configuration of the test on the bond strength of the bar to the concrete. All but one of the bars investigated failed in the pull-out failure mode and showed good bonding behavior to the concrete. The results of the experimental investigation indicate that an increase in the diameter of GFRP bars causes a decrease in the bond stress when a beam bond test is performed and that the surface treatment of GFRP bars has a significant effect on the bond mechanism. Similar bond-slip behavior was observed in both testing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an investigation of the performance of concrete beams reinforced with glass fiber-reinforced polymers (GFRP) under short-term loading. A total of six specimens with rectangular cross-sections (75 mm in height and 150 mm in width) were tested under a four-point bending test to failure. Each specimen was reinforced with two GFRP bars with diameters of 8 mm. The results of this study demonstrated the behavior of GFRP-reinforced concrete members and a validation of the available calculation methods for the deflection of these members and assumed possibilities of the use of a GFRP reinforcement over the long term. The results of the study presented show a very good agreement of an experimentally measured and theoretically calculated instantaneous deflection when using the approaches in the European and American standards. In calculations of long-term deflections, the results are highly inconsistent and seem to be quite overestimated in some cases. The study shows the necessity of real-time long-term measurements to demonstrate the real deformations to be assumed during design of structures reinforced with GFRP reinforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]