Behavior of Hybrid GFRP-Steel RC Beam-Column Joints under Reversed Cyclic Loading

The use of fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) as reinforcement in concrete structures has been growing rapidly. FRP has been successfully adopted in several bridge structures around the world in the superstructure. Typically, conventional RC bridges suffer from major deterioration caused by corrosion. However, due to FRP’s elastic behavior, FRP-RC members exhibit low ductility and energy dissipation. Hybrid steel-FRP configurations can be a viable solution to the lack of ductility of FRP-RC members. The use of steel and FRP as flexural reinforcement, combined with FRP stirrups can enhance the corrosion resistance of reinforced concrete (RC) members. However, current design standards have limited guidelines for seismic design of FRP-RC structures. In this study, the behavior of beam-column joints reinforced with steel, GFRP and a hybrid GFRP-steel configuration, is investigated to evaluate their performance in a seismic event