Structural Behavior of Concrete Beams Reinforced with Biaxial Geogrid

In recent decades, corrosion in steel reinforcement has been one of the fundamental risks in steel-reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Geosynthetics can be an alternative approach to solve corrosion problems. The current experimental research work investigates the structural performance of geogrid-reinforced concrete (GRC) elements. Initially, five different geotextiles and biaxial geogrid materials were selected and embedded in the concrete specimens separately to study their mechanical properties. The results of the testing showed that the geogrid embedded specimen behaved more mechanically than the conventional concrete (CC) specimens due to increased bonding characteristics. The limiting moment and load-carrying capacities of the RC and GRC beams were determined with reference to limit state design principles. In order to compare the structural performance of the beams, two RC beams and two GRC beams with the size of 150 mm × 300 mm × 2100 mm were cast. The structural performances in terms of the load-carrying capacity, energy absorption, stiffness degradation, and ductility were examined. The results of the tests indicated that even though the load-carrying capacity of the GRC beams was slightly lower, they demonstrated enhanced performance by 42%, 40%, and 68% higher in the energy absorption, stiffness degradation, and ductility, respectively, than those of the RC beams on average. The augmented inelastic performance and better bonding properties of the GRC beams aid in noticeable structural performance.

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