Bond strength of glass fibre reinforced polymer reinforcing bars in normal and self-consolidating concrete

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on bond strength of reinforcing bars made of glass fibre reinforced polymers (GFRP) embedded in normal and self-consolidating concrete. The study included pull-out tests of 36 GFRP reinforcing bars embedded in concrete specimens. Different parameters such as type of concrete, bar location, and cover thickness were considered as variables in different specimens. The results showed that the type of bond failure was by splitting of concrete for all specimens. The bond strength of bottom GFRP reinforcing bars was almost the same for both normal concrete and self-consolidating concrete. For the top bars, however, the bond strength of self-consolidating concrete was less than that of normal concrete.Key words: bond strength, glass FRP, reinforcing bars, top-bar effect, self-consolidating concrete.