Evaluation of Fire Endurance of Concrete Slabs Reinforced with Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Bars

One of the major safety requirements in the design of buildings is the provision of appropriate fire endurance of structural members. To assess and develop information on the fire endurance of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforced concrete structural members, a numerical model was applied to the analysis of FRP-reinforced concrete slabs. The computer program was validated against data obtained from fire endurance tests on concrete slabs reinforced with steel or FRP bars. Parametric studies were carried out to investigate the effect of a range of parameters on the fire performance of FRP-reinforced concrete slabs. Results of the parametric studies show that FRP-reinforced concrete slabs have lower fire resistance than slabs reinforced with conventional reinforcing steel when fire endurance is defined in terms of the critical temperature of the reinforcement. In this context the main factors that influence the fire resistance of FRP-reinforced concrete slabs are: the concrete cover thickness, type of reinforcement, and the type of aggregate in the concrete. A higher fire resistance for FRP-reinforced concrete slabs can be obtained through greater concrete cover thickness and through the use of carbonate aggregate concrete. Based on the parametric studies, a series of simple design charts is presented that can be used to evaluate the fire endurance of FRP-reinforced concrete slabs.