Experimental study on the axial compression performance of GFRP-reinforced concrete square columns

At present, extensive studies have been conducted relative to the topic of fiber-reinforced polymer(FRP)- reinforced concrete (RC) flexural members, and many design methods have also been introduced. There have, however, been few studies conducted on the topic of FRP-RC compression members. In light of this, eight glass-fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP)-RC square columns (200x200x600 mm) were tested in order to investigate their axial compression performance. These columns were reinforced with GFRP longitudinal reinforcement and confined GFRP stirrup. These experiments investigated the effects of the longitudinal reinforcement ratio, stirrup configuration (spirals versus hoops) and spacing on the load-carrying capacity and failure modes of GFRP-RC rectangular columns. The test results indicate that the load-carrying capacity of longitudinal GFRP bars accounted for 3%-7% of the ultimate load-carrying capacity of the columns. The ultimate load-carrying capacity of RC columns confined with GFRP spirals increased by 0.8%-1.6% with higher ductility, compared to GFRP hoops. Reducing the stirrup spacing may prevent the buckling failure of the longitudinal bars and increase the ductility and load-carrying capacity of the GFRP-RC columns. It has been found that setting the GFRP compressive strength to 35% of the GFRP maximum tensile strength yields a reasonable estimate of ultimate load-carrying capacity of GFRP-RC columns.