TENSILE STRENGTH AND MECHANICAL

PROPERTIES OF FIBER REINFORCED PLASTIC

REINFORCING BARS

David Imam and Allison Johnson-Moore

Undergraduate Civil Engineering Research
University of Southern California

Fiberglass rebar positive

attributes
Impervious

to chloride ion and

chemical attack
Tensile strength greater than steel
1/4th weight of steel reinforcement
Transparent to magnetic fields and
radio frequencies
Electrically non-conductive
Thermally non-conductive

Fiberglass rebar negative

attributes
Low

Modulus of Elasticity
Brittle nature

Objective
This exploratory study was carried
out to for two purposes:

to develop a suitable method for

producing uniform stress throughout
the member during testing
to investigate the tensile strength of
Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP)
reinforcing bars

Experimental Options
Analyze

a plain FRP specimen

Wrap the ends of the sample in
epoxy-coated carbon fiber cloth
Encase the ends of the sample
with metal sleeves

Experimental Program
Setup:
Cut specimen to
appropriate length
Affix strain gauges
to bars
Encase select
samples in steel
tubing

Experimental Program
Testing Method
Secure specimen
in SATEC machine
Connect wires to
strain gauge
boxes
Apply load
Collect data

Observations
Slippage
Epoxy

failure
Tensile performance
Specimen failure

Experimental Results

steel ends

Bar
A
B

naked clamp C
D

diameter
(in)
0.64
0.64
0.41
0.41

Modulus
Failure
of
area
failure
stress
Failure Elasticity
(in2)
(force - kip)
(psi)
strain
(psi)
0.3217
29.70
92322 0.01968 4.00E+06
0.3217
21.96
68263 0.01840 4.00E+06
0.1320
0.1320 -

9.75

70374
-

0.02360 6.00E+07
-

Experimental Results

Failure of naked bar

Graphical Results
stress-strain: bar-B

stress-strain: bar-A
y = 4E+06x + 6742.8
R2 = 0.9992

100000

65000

stress vs strain(A)

60000

Linear (stress vs strain(A))

45000

stress vs. strain (B)

40000

Linear (stress vs. strain

(B))

20000
0

25000
0

0.005

0.01

0.015

0.02

0.025

-20000

strain

y = 6E+06x - 67613
R2 = 0.9978

80000
60000

stress vs. strain (C)

40000

Linear (stress vs. strain

(C))

20000
0
0.01

0.015

0.02
strain

0.005

0.01

0.015

0.02

strain

stress-strain: bar-C

stress (psi)

y = 4E+06x + 143.31
R2 = 0.9918

80000

85000

stress (psi)

stress (psi)

105000

0.025

BAR A: large diameter steel ends

BAR B: large diameter naked ends
BAR C: small diameter steel ends
BAR D: small diameter naked ends (results unattainable)

Conclusion
Developed

method relatively

successful
Modulus of Elasticity much less than
steel
Failure stress much greater than
steel

Sources of Error
Failure

of epoxy to perform to full

potential
Specimen not completely vertical
Slippage

Conclusion
Improvements for Testing/Producing
FRP
Use a more ductile polymer
Allow Epoxy to fully set
Custom design metal sleeves
Experiment with a variety of
wrapping procedures

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