Safe application of glass fibre rebar in civil engineering Hints and examples for practice

In cases where reinforcement with special requirements is needed, glass fibre reinforced polymer bars have successfully been used since more than 20 years. The first approval by the German building authorities (DIBt) has been issued in 2008 giving way for broad application of this technology. This article focuses on differences in the material behaviour of mild steel and glass fibre rebar and offers basic knowledge for the design of glass fibre rebar. Additional information on comparison of different materials as well as for single use permissions (ZiE) is given. This knowledge combined with a glance on the future regulations on glass fibre rebar in the next EC2 shall enable structural engineers to perform safe calculations and a proper application of glass fibre rebar. Examples of carried out projects give an overview of the broad field of applications.