Feasibility of Using Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Bars as Internal Reinforcement in Concrete Arch Slab Bridges

This study investigates the performance of concrete arch slabs reinforced with GFRP bars. Four arch slabs were constructed with 0.5 m width, 0.975 m maximum height, and 3.92 m span. The thickness varied between 100 at the middle and 175 mm at the ends. One arch was reinforced with steel and three arches were reinforced with different ratios of GFRP bars. All arches were pin supported and were tested under two concentrated loads. All the GFRP reinforced arches showed higher mid-span deflection at their maximum loads compared to the reference arch reinforced with steel. All arches showed good capacities ranging between 154 and 248 kN. The ultimate capacity of the reference arch was slightly higher (16%) than the ultimate capacity of the GFRP reinforced concrete arch with the same reinforcement ratio. Increasing the GFRP reinforcement ratio increased the cracking load, the number of cracks at failure, and the capacity of the GFRP reinforced concrete arches. Based on the test results of this research study, it can be concluded that the GFRP reinforced concrete arches showed good and comparable behavior to the steel-RC arch. This demonstrates that the GFRP bars can be used to replace steel reinforcement in arch slab bridges in corrosive environments.