Performance of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Continuous Beams with Basalt FRP Bars

Abstract

The state of Qatar is suffering from a harsh environment and coastal conditions which stand for most of the year. As a result, steel-reinforced concrete (RC) structures are subjected to rapid corrosion and deterioration. Therefore, there is a necessity to replace the conventional steel reinforcement by fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) composites. Apart from FRP corrosion resistance property, their strength to weight ratio is higher than steel reinforcement which made them a viable alternative to steel reinforcement. This study aims to investigate the flexural behavior of basalt fiber reinforced concrete continuous beams reinforced with basalt FRP (BFRP) bars. Two RC continuous beams with a size of 200 300 4000 mm were prepared and cured for 28 days. Then, the beams were tested up to failure under five-point loading. The volume fraction of basalt macro-fibers (BMF) was the only investigated parameter in this study. Test results have shown that the addition of BMF in volume fractions of 0.75% improved the crack widths, cracking loads, failure mode, strains and displacements of the beams.