Use of basalt fiber reinforced polymer bars in the development of hybrid beam – investigations on the flexural response

Abstract

In the present paper, experimental investigations were carried out on RC beams towards finding the feasibility of developing a hybrid beam by combining steel and basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) as reinforcement. The percentage of steel and BFRP reinforcement were varied to find their influential behaviour on the flexural response of RC beams. In addition, a performance comparison was made for the hybrid beam with that of conventional steel reinforced beam. Conclusions were arrived on various aspects such as cracking, yielding, ultimate performance and ductility of hybrid beams. An analytical model was developed to predict the load versus deflection behaviour by adopting ACI formulations and modifications were proposed for hybrid beams that uses BFRP and steel as reinforcement. The proposed model is validated with the experimental behaviour.