Analytical Investigation On Shear Performance Of FRP-reinforced Concrete Deep Beams

Recently,the Finite Element Modeling(FEM)has become a more promising tool for research and design.Therefore,the utilization of FEM for studying the behavior of full scale deep beams is the best tool to overcome the difficulties of preparing and testing large and expensive tests.This dissertation presents results from analytical investigation aimed at assessing the shear performance of FRP-reinforced concrete deep beams.The analytical investigation was carried out in three phases;numerical simulation,parametric analysis and statistical analysis.The numerical simulation was carried out using finite element analysis software(ABAQUS)to simulate the effect of different parameters such as shear span-to-depth ratio,longitudinal reinforcement ratio and size of the loading plate.Results from Numerical simulation were compared with selected test from literature in terms of ultimate load,the corresponding mid-span deflections,and failure mode and crack patterns.A parametric study was conducted to further validate the performance of the Finite Element Model(FEM)and to study the key parameters affecting the ultimate shear capacity of FRP-RC deep beams.The proposed FEM showed good performance in assessing the effect of different parameters on behavior of FRP-reinforced concrete deep beams.Furthermore,a database of 66 experimental tests of FRP-reinforced concrete deep beams from the literature were collected in order to assess the validity of the proposed shear strength equation as well as to check the ability and reliability of STM of Canadian code(CSA S80-12).The proposed equation has produced relatively safe results whereas the STM of Canadian provision(CSA S806-12)has underestimated the results from the database with a mean experimental-to-predicted value of 1.87 and COV of 34.63%.This level of conservatism could lead to uneconomical design for FRPreinforced deep beams.