Shear behaviour of inorganic polymer concrete beams reinforced with basalt FRP bars and stirrups

Inorganic polymer concrete (IPC) reinforced with basalt fibre reinforced polymer (BFRP) was proposed as a promising substitute of conventional reinforced concrete for structures to enhance their sustainability and durability. This paper, for the first time, presents a systematic study, experimental, theoretical and numerical, of shear behaviour of IPC beams reinforced with BFRP bars and stirrups considering the effects of stirrup spacing (S = 80, 100 and 150 mm) and shear span-to-depth ratio (lambda = 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5). Result indicates that all BFRP-IPC beams fail in shear as a result of BFRP stirrup rupture and shear-compression failure. Compared to S, lambda has a more pronounced influence on shear performance of BFRP reinforced IPC beams, with a maximum reduction of ultimate shear load by 29.4%. The simulation results show good agreement with experimental data, while the theoretical predictions according to existing design provisions for FRP reinforced concrete have a discrepancy of more than 30% with experiments due to lack of consideration of lambda. Modified equations taking into account the effect of lambda were then derived and used to predict the shear capacity of BFRP reinforced IPC beams, which agrees well with experimental data with an average discrepancy of only around 5%.