Partial prestressed concrete beams with FRP reinforcement

About the Project

Prestressed concrete beams with fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) bars show promising results utilising the excellent mechanical properties of the FRP such as lack of corrosion, high strength and durability to create suitable elements that meet the design requirements according to the serviceability and ultimate limit states.

Since both concrete and FRP are brittle materials the failure of the FRP restressed beams can be brittle as well so to overcome this issue an intermediate case between fully prestressed and reinforced concrete elements can be adopted. Partial prestressing combines features from both approaches reducing deflection and cracking compared to the behaviour of reinforced concrete and may improve the ductility, energy absorption and creep compared to the fully prestressed elements.

The project will be based on laboratory experiments and theoretical study on partially prestressed beams using FRP rebars. The samples will be designed, made, and tested at Kingston university. Different level of prestressing, variation of prestressed and unstressed reinforcement and hybrid reinforcement will be studied to establish the optimal combination of effects. Finite element modelling will be carried to conduct parametric studies investigating the broader application of the proposed methods. The results from the study will be disseminated via Attendance of expert conferences and journal publications.

Funding Notes

there is no funding for this project