Introduction

FRP reinforcement has an advantage over steel in that it has high corrosion resistance and high strength to
weight ratio. While FRP reinforcement is mainly used in bridges, there is enormous economic potential for
its use in multi-story buildings, parking garages and industrial structures. However, before FRPs can be
used to reinforce concrete members in buildings, the ability of these members to meet stringent fire
resistance must be established.

Previous research
Data on the effect of high temperature on the FRP is limited.SO THE effects of high temperature on FRP
rebars and on FRP reinforced concrete was obtained from limited published papers and is presented.

1. Thermomechanical properties of fibers

Rehm and Franke [4] studied the effect of temperatures on the tensile strength of different types of glass
fibers.
Sen [5] also carried out tests on glass fibers with different chemical compositions to investigate the effect
of two different temperatures on the tensile strength. It was found that, at a temperature of _550 _C, the
tensile strength is reduced to about half of its value at room temperature. These results are independent of
the type of glass fiber considered.
In Rostasy’s experimental tests [6], the temperature-dependent strength of glass, carbon and aramid fibers
was evaluated in a stationary thermal regime. It was observed that the tensile strength of aramid fiber was
more dependent on the temperature than the tensile strength of glass fiber.

2. Thermomechanical properties of the matrix

Plecnik [7] performed tests to evaluate the thermomechanical properties of epoxy resins. Compression,
tensile and shear tests were carried out at elevated temperatures,
Gluguru [8] studied the effect of high temperature on the shear strength of different
epoxies.

3. Thermomechanical properties of composite elements

Kumahara et al. [9] studied the behavior of FRP bars during and after high temperature exposure.
Rahman [10] proposed hybrid carbon/glass fiber grids as reinforcing material for concrete.
Fujisaki [11] performed tests to investigate the temperature dependence of the tensile strength for a hybrid
carbon/glass fiber grid during and after heating.
Tanano [12] tested composite rods at elevated temperature in order to simulate the deflection of a FRP
reinforced concrete beam at high temperature loading.
These tests revealed very clearly the effect of high temperature exposure on the mechanical
properties of FRP rebars, where the modulus and the tensile strength of FRP rebars decrease with the
increase of the temperature. However, this decrease is most pronounced for the tensile strength than the
modulus of elasticity.

4. Behavior of concrete reinforced with FRP rebars at high temperature conditions

Kartz et al. [13] carried out pull-out tests at elevated temperatures to determine the bond properties between
FRP rebars and concrete.
Fujisaki [11] subjected a precast concrete curtain element reinforced with a mixed GFRP/CFRP grid to a
standard fire test for 30 min.
Nagakawa [14] executed a fire test for 60 min on a CFRP reinforced curtain wall element.
Tanano [15] tested a series of beams reinforced with different types of composite rods.
Sakashita [16] tested a number of FRP reinforced beams in a fire test. CFRP rods as well as GFRP and
AFRP rods with different geometrical textures (braided, spiral and straight) were tested. The structural
behavior of these beams was compared with the structural behavior of a conventionally (steel) reinforced
beam. The deflection was measured during the test. It was concluded that beams with braided aramid and
carbon fiber rods performed worse than the conventionally reinforced beam, while beams with straight
glass and carbon fiber rods performed better.
Effect of fire on the concrete strength:
Initially, the heat applied to the concrete beams causes evaporation of free moisture in the concrete.
With a continued exposure to fire, the temperature inside the beam increases and the strength of concrete
decreases. In certain cases, the pressure generated by conversion of moisture into beams may be too high
for the surface layer of concrete to resist, and it may spall causing a reduction in concrete compressive
strength.
The reduction in concrete compressive strength as a function of its temperature is shown in Fig. 1
fcT/fc = kc
where : fcT=values of reduced strength of concrete
fc=the concrete compressive strength

Fig. 1. Concrete reduction factor kc.

Effect of fire exposure on FRPs mechanical properties:

The reduction in mechanical properties of FRP due to high temperature depends mainly on the specific
composition and properties of the matrix and reinforcing fibers.
An extensive survey done by Blontrok et al. [18] on the effect of high temperature on the mechanical
properties of FRP rebars showed that although the experimental results were scattered, the ultimate tensile
strength of AFRP and CFRP rebars was not affected by heat up to 100 _C, however, it decreases
dramatically with increasing the temperature. The tensile strength of GFRP rebars, however, decreases
consistently with the increase of the temperature.
Based on the experimental results collected by Blontrok et al. [18], the values of reduced ultimate tensile
strength and modulus of elasticity of FRP rebars due to the temperature can be obtained from the following
proposed conservative equations:
ffuT / ffu 20 _C = kf
EfT / Ef 20 _C = kE
Where: ffu 20 _C and ffuT are the ultimate tensile strength of FRP rebars at 20 _C and T _C respectively
Ef 20 _C and EfT are the modulus of elasticity of FRP rebars at 20 _C and T _C respectively
kf and kE are temperature reduction factors for the tensile strength and the modulus of elasticity, respectively.

The proposed kf and kE reduction factors as a function of FRP temperatures are shown in Figs. 2 and 3.
Fig. 2. Temperature reduction factor for FRP tensile strength. Fig. 3. Temperature reduction factor for FRP modulus of
elasticity.
Temperature profile in FRP reinforced rectangular beams:
Desai [19] exposed concrete beams to fire on three sides using the British standard fire curve [20],
which is similar to ASTM E119 fire test standard [21].
He developed an equation to predict the temperature profiles in rectangular concrete beams.

The application of this method should be limited to rectangular beams with width (mm) within the range
100≤ b≤ 300 and values of r (the ratio of the overall height to the width) within the range of 1≤ r≤ 3. Typical
temperature contours in a FRP reinforced beam having a width of 200 mm and a depth of 300 mm
estimated at 90 min is shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4. Temperature contours in a FRP reinforced beam estimated at t = 90 min.

Flexural capacity of FRP reinforced beams at high temperatures:
For FRP reinforced concrete beams, the ACI Committee 440 [22] suggested that the member must be
over-reinforced to obtain a failure by concrete crushing rather than the rupture of FRP reinforcement.
In the case of a fire, the temperature will decrease the tensile strength of FRP and when its reaches the
stress in the FRP reinforcement ff , the failure mode will change from concrete crushing into FRP rupture or
FRP rupture accompanied with concrete crushing. Fig. 5 shows the temperature tensile strength reduction
factor kf as a function of the FRP temperature T. The ratio ff/ffu = kcri is also presented in this figure.
and the nominal flexural capacity MnT can be calculated using the following equations (see Fig. 6) :

where :ρ f is the FRP reinforcement ratio

ffT is FRP stress at a temperature T _C, fcT is the concrete compressive strength at a temperature T _C
EfT is the FRP modulus of elasticity at a temperature T _C,
ε cu = 0,003 is the concrete ultimate axial strain,
b and d are the width and effective depth, respectively, of the concrete beam and b1 = 0:85 is the depth of
the equivalent rectangular stress block factor.

Fig. 5. Effect of fire temperature on the failure mode

Fig. 6. Failure governed by concrete crushing when kf ≥kcri.
of FRP reinforced concrete beams.

Shear capacity of FRP reinforced concrete beams:

The nominal shear capacity VT of an FRP reinforced concrete beam at high temperature can be estimated
using the ACI Committee 440 shear equation:

where :EfT and EsT are the modulus of elasticity of FRP and steel respectively at temperature T _C,
fcT is the concrete compressive strength at temperature T _C,
bT is the width of the beam at T _C, d is the effective depth of the beam,
Af ;v is the total cross-sectional area of web reinforcement within a spacing s,
ff;vT is the FRP tensile strength for shear design at T _C taken as the smaller of 0,002EfT and the strength
of the bent portion of FRP stirrups.

where
r is the internal radius of bend in the bar, db is the nominal diameter of the FRP bar, and ffuT is the ultimate
tensile strength of the FRP at temperature T _C.
Parametric study:
To study the effect of fire time exposure and the concrete cover on the FRP temperature:

1) a 200 ∗ 300 mm2 section with a 35 MPa concrete compressive strength was considered for the
parametric study. Fig. 8 shows that As the exposure time increases, the temperature in the FRP
reinforcement increases, and decreases with increasing the concrete cover. Figs. 9 and 10 show the effect
of the concrete cover c, and fire time exposure t on the GFRP, CFRP and steel temperature tensile stress
reduction factor kf.
Figs. 9 and 10 also show that the endurance of FRP reinforced concrete beams depends mainly on the
concrete cover and exposure time.

Fig. 8. Temperatures in the FRP reinforcement as a function of fire time exposure and concrete cover.

Fig. 9. Effect of fire exposure time and concrete cover

Fig. 10. Effect of fire exposure time and concrete on
the GFRP tensile reduction factor kf . cover on the CFRP tensile reduction factor kf .

Based on Figs. 9 and 10, the minimum concrete cover c for fire resistance is 64 mm (2.5 in.) for FRP and
30 mm (1.2 in.) for steel.
The changes in the estimated flexural and shear resistance of GFRP, AFRP, CFRP, and steel reinforced
concrete beams due to fire exposure is shown in Figs. 11–13. A concrete cross-section of 200 ∗ 300 mm²
with concrete compressive strength of 35 MPa was used. Each beam was reinforced with one layer of
GFRP, AFRP, CFRP and steel rebars, with a concrete cover of 64 mm.

Fig. 11. Effect of fire exposure time on the flexural capacity Fig. 12. Effect of fire exposure time
on the shear
of FRP reinforced beams capacity of GFRP reinforced concrete
beams.
.

Fig. 13. Effect of fire exposure time on the shear capacity of CFRP reinforced concrete beams.

Due to the low mechanical properties of GFRP, the degradation of the shear capacity of the GFRP
reinforced concrete beam is more pronounced than CFRP and steel reinforced concrete beams.
2) The beam in this parametric study is with hybrid reinforcement steel and AFRP placed on two levels was
used to study the effect of fire time exposure and the concrete cover on the FRP temperature. Two types of
cover are considered, 25 mm and 50 mm, using concrete with a compressive strength equal to 35 Mpa.
Figure 10 illustrates the cross sections of the two beams
Table 2 illustrates the material information used in this investigation

Figure 10. Beam cross sections with different covers

Figures 11-13 show the loads versus the displacement for different times and
concrete covers.
It can be seen that a small addition of cover makes an increase of failure load almost
50 % compared to a cover used of 25 mm. The hybrid steel reinforcement beam with
CFRP bars exhibits better performances than AFRP, GFRP.
 Figure 11. Load deflection curves for beams reinforced with steel and
AFRP:
(a) cover 25mm, (b) cover 50mm

Figure 12. Load deflection curves for beams reinforced with steel and
CFRP:
(a) cover 25mm, (b) cover 50mm
 Figure 13. Load deflection curves for beams reinforced with steel
and CFRP:
(a) cover 25mm, (b) cover 50mm

Conclusions:

1) it was found that the response of FRP reinforced concrete beams depends mainly on the concrete cover
and the temperature profiles inside the beams. Due to rapid deterioration of FRP reinforcement, FRP
reinforced concrete beams exhibited significant degradation in shear and flexural resistance than steel
reinforced concrete. It was also found that the minimum concrete cover for resistance is 64 mm (2.5 in.) for
FRP and 30 mm (1.2 in.) for steel.
2) It was also found that the minimum concrete cover for hybrid steel reinforced
beams is equal to 50 mm.