Effectiveness of FRP stirrups in concrete beams subject to shear

It can be shown theoretically that two key parameters that govern the shear strength of FRP reinforced concrete structures are the angle of inclination of the diagonal struts, θ, and the strength of the FRP stirrups, f_v. Existing standards for FRP reinforced concrete differ in their provisions for the determination of these quantities and to date there is paucity of experimental evidence to conclusively support the superiority of a particular standard. To address this problem, an extensive experimental program is undertaken at the University of Salerno with focus on determining the above quantities in GFRP reinforced concrete beams. Beams with different amounts of transverse reinforcement and span to depth ratio are tested to investigate the variation of θ and the magnitude of f_v, with the purpose of determining their effect on the beams shear strength.