Author(s)

Q.G. Yang, Z.J. Yi, X.J. Gan, X.B. He & Y.H. Ma

Abstract

Since the behavior of a conventional reinforced concrete (RC) bending member is closely related with the emergence and propagation of cracks in concrete, the RC member can be improved in service and carrying ability through holding back the growth of cracks. Based on the fundamental theory of fracture mechanics, a new design concept to improve the performance of the RC member by means of embedding a crack-arresting FRP layer into concrete is proposed in the paper. The cracks are effectively restricted this way and the performance of the RC member can be better. Guided by the above analysis, some RC bending members with embedded crack-arresting FRP layers were fabricated and loaded in the lab. The experiments verified the new design concept based on fracture

Keywords