Abstract:
In order to enhance the seismic capacity of concrete flexural members, a graded reinforcement scheme with the glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) bars and the steel bars was developed to make a graded distribution of bearing capacity that matches the external force distribution, and then multiple-plastic regions were formed. Five concrete flexural members with different graded reinforcement parameters were designed, and the comparison parameters included the height of the grades, the type of bars, the reinforcement ratios and the construction methods. Through the pushover experiment, the formation and mechanical effects of multi-plastic regions were studied, and the formation mechanism of multi-plastic regions was analyzed in details. The results show that the reasonable graded reinforcement scheme can form multi-plastic regions in the concrete flexural member. The number and development degree of plastic regions significantly affect the seismic behaviours of members. The formation condition of the multi-plastic regions is that the external moment is between the sectional yield moment and ultimate moment in several grades. The development level of each plastic region can be effectively controlled by adjusting the length and reinforcement of the grades, and the failure position and failure mode of the member can be designed. A great increment provided by GFRP bars with line elasticity properties on the bending bearing capacity after yielding is a key factor for the formation and regulation of multi-plastic regions.