Shear strength of GFRP reinforced precast lightweight concrete panels

The capacity of lightweight concrete panels reinforced with Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars is investigated in terms of shear strength. An extended database of test results including normal weight and lightweight concrete restricted to members reinforced with GFRP bars for flexure without shear reinforcement was compiled. The one-way shear strength of lightweight concrete panels was compared to that of normal weight concrete panels tested in this research and from the extended database. Analysis of the data shows that the ratio of experimental to ACI 440.1R-06 predicted shear capacity of lightweight concrete panels is lower compared to normal weight concrete members. A reduction factor for one-way shear strength of lightweight concrete panels reinforced with GFRP bars is proposed for the ACI 440 design guidelines. The shear predictions using Canadian (CAN/CSA-S806-02) and Japanese (JSCE) recommendations are also compared to the extended database; these provisions predict the shear strength of lightweight and normal weight concrete panels reinforced with GFRP bars with a similar degree of conservatism and hence a reduction factor is not required.