Experimental Behavior of Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer-Reinforced Concrete Columns under Lateral Cyclic Load

The present study addresses the feasibility of reinforced concrete columns totally reinforced with glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars achieving the drift requirements specified in various codes. Eleven full-scale concrete columns--two reinforced with steel bars (as reference specimen) and nine totally reinforced with GFRP bars--were constructed and tested to failure under quasi-static reversed cyclic lateral loading and simultaneously subjected to constant compression axial load. The reported test results clearly show that properly designed and detailed GFRP-reinforced concrete columns could reach high deformation levels with no strength degradation. The results also show that the achieved drift satisfies the limitation in most building codes. Acceptable levels of energy dissipation and ductility parameters, compared to the steel-reinforced columns, were observed. The promising results can provide impetus for constructing concrete columns reinforced with GFRP and constitute a step toward using GFRP reinforcement in lateral-resisting systems such as reinforced concrete frames. Keywords: concrete columns; ductility parameters; energy dissipation; glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars; hysteretic response.