Bond strength of glass fiber reinforced polymer ribbed rebars in normal strength concrete

Ninety pullout specimens were used to study the bond behavior of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) ribbed rebars with thirty different specially designed rib geometries to the normal strength concrete. The test variables were the rebar diameter, rib spacing, and rib height. For each specimen, the bond failure mode, the average bond strength, the slip at the loaded end, the initial bond stiffness, and the bond–slip relationship curves were analyzed. It was found that the bond strength and bond–slip performance of these specially machined rebars varied with the combinations of rib spacing and rib height, alternatively known as the relative rib area(ratio of projected rib area normal to bar axis to product of nominal bar perimeter and center-to-center rib spacing). Based on analysis of the test results, design recommendations involving optimal rib spacing and rib height were made concerning optimum rib geometries of GFRP ribbed rebars with superior bond–slip performance.