Executive Summary : | Study of Structural Behavior and Failure Characteristics of FRP-Concrete Composite Beams. When employed in the form of thin-walled flexure elements, the mechanics associated with FRP laminates makes these structures suffer from some inherent discrepancies such as lateral instability, high deformability, and brittle failure, to name a few. Such discrepancies can be minimized to a certain extent, and the design can be made much more efficient by combining the advanced composite materials with conventional construction materials like concrete in the form of an FRP-concrete composite section. However, the flexural response of such a section is not well understood due to the complex nature of the interfacial shear transfer mechanism. This has led to a complete absence of design guidelines/manuals, analytical equations, and codal provisions that could assist the structural designer in analyzing and designing FRP-concrete composite structures. Aim of work The proposed study will focus on studying the effects of different design parameters such as the shape and composite layup of the FRP profile, the geometry and concrete type of the slab, type of shear connection and interaction, etc. on the composite action through a series of experimental investigations and numerical simulations. The various findings will then be used to work out the design recommendations and analysis procedures. Major objective 1. To develop an efficient shear transfer medium and mechanism, by investigating the combined effect of the shear connector’s stiffness and strength on the composite action between the FRP beam and the concrete slab in the push-out tests. 2. To study the degree of interdependencies among the various design parameters and their effect on the flexural response of the composite beam, such as the effect of replacing the normal strength concrete in the slab with advanced concretes like, ductile engineered cementitious concrete, functionally graded concrete; the effect of composite layup, etc. 3. To develop a refined numerical model that can closely resemble the structural response of the composite beam in terms of the material constitutive laws and failure criterion. 4. To investigate the influence of location, size, and shape of the cutouts provided in the webs and flanges for services on the flexural response of the composite beam. 5. To work out the design recommendations in the form of load-slip relations, design equations, and analysis procedures. |