Experimental Investigation on Pure Torsion Behavior of Concrete Beams Reinforced with Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Bars

The failure mechanism of torsional concrete beams with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bars is essential for developing the design method. However, limited experimental research has been conducted on the torsion behavior of concrete beams with FRP bars. Therefore, the pure torsion test of four large-scale FRP-RC beams (2800 mm × 400 mm × 200 mm) was conducted to investigate the influence of the stirrup ratio (0, 0.49%, and 0.98%) and longitudinal reinforcement ratio (3.01%, 4.25%) on torsion behavior. The test results indicated that three typical failure patterns, including concrete cracking failure, stirrup rupturing failure, and concrete crushing failure, were observed in specimens without stirrups (stirrup ratio 0), partially over-reinforced specimens (stirrup ratio 0.49%), and over-reinforced specimens (stirrup ratio 0.98%), respectively. The tangent angle of spiral cracks at the midpoint of the long side of the cross-section was approximately 45° initially for all specimens. The torque–twist angle curves exhibited a linear and bilinear behavior for specimens without stirrups and specimens with stirrups, respectively. As the stirrup ratio increased from 0 to 0.98%, torsion capacity increased from 24.9 kN∙m to 27.8 kN∙m, increased by 12%, ultimate twist angle increased from 0.0018 rad/m to 0.0403 rad/m. As the longitudinal reinforcement ratio increased from 3.01% to 4.25%, the torsion capacity increased from 27.8 kN∙m to 28.3 kN∙m, and the ultimate twist angle decreased from 0.0403 rad/m to 0.0244 rad/m. Based on test results, the stirrup strain limit of 5200 με and spiral crack angle of 45° was suggested for torsion capacity calculation. In addition, based on the database of torsion tests, the performance of torsion capacity provisions was assessed.

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