Bond behaviour of GFRP reinforced geopolymer cement concrete

Bond plays a key role in the performance of reinforced concrete structures. Glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) reinforcing bar and Geopolymer cement (GPC) concrete are promising alternative construction materials for steel bars and Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) concrete respectively. In this study, the bond behaviour between these two materials is investigated by using beam-end specimen tests. The bond behaviour of 15.9 mm diameter sand-coated GFRP bar was investigated. An embedment length of six and nine times the bar diameter were used. The free end and the loaded end bond-slip-relationships, the bond failure mode and the average bond stress were used to analyse each of the specimens. Additionally, the distribution of tensile and bond stress along the embedment length was investigated by installing strain gauges along the embedment length in some of the specimens. Test results indicate that a significant difference exists between the free end and loaded end bond-slip curves, which is due to the lower elastic modulus of the GFRP bars. Furthermore, it was found that the tensile and bond stress distribution along the embedment length is nonlinear and the nonlinearity changes with the load.