Abstract
Fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs), which are resistant to corrosion, are used as reinforcement material for concrete. However, the flexural behavior of concrete members reinforced with FRPs can vary depending on the properties of FRPs. In this study, the flexural behavior of one-way concrete slab specimens reinforced with a new grid-type carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) (carbon grid) manufactured by bonding pultruded CFRP strands to an adhesive was investigated. The experimental results indicated differences in the load-deflection relationships of the specimens depending on the carbon grid reinforcement amount. Specimens in which the carbon grids were over-reinforced or reinforced close to the balanced reinforcement ratio reached the maximum load due to concrete crushing and exhibited ductile failure. The specimen under-reinforced with the carbon grid exhibited brittle failure. Specimens with carbon grid reinforcement close to a balanced reinforcement ratio exhibited maximum loads ranging from 0.43 to 0.61 times the calculated flexural strength, which resulted in becoming 0.86-1.00 lower in the specimens with a wider width of the CFRP strands. This study proposes coefficients to estimate the stiffness of carbon-grid-reinforced concrete flexural members after cracking. Applying these coefficients resulted in stiffness calculations that reasonably simulated the behavior of the specimens reinforced with carbon grids after crack formation.