Hybrid beam of 8 meters length manufactured with concrete and composites materials

Abstract

The project theme is the development of an all-in-one composite reinforcing formwork system that could eventually substitute the standard materials used for making reinforced concrete elements like steel. The concept consists in substituting the standard steel or wooden formwork, usually used to manufacture reinforced concrete structures, with an FRC formwork. The FRC formwork would not (as is normally the case) be dismantled once the concrete was set, but rather would be bonded to the concrete; thus acting as tensile reinforcement in substitution of the usual steel reinforcement bars and stirrups. The key engineering concepts to be examined were: ? Structural failure modes ? Creep and relaxation characteristics ? Optimization of overall stiffness by proper use of material properties ? Monitoring of structural performance, particularly the bonded concrete-composite interface using optical fibre techniques.