Geopolymer concrete beam strengthening with glass fibre reinforced polymer

The experimental evaluation of effectiveness of the externally bonded Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) in the strengthening of the geopolymer reinforced concrete beams is presented in the paper. Bending tests were conducted until failure to enable full understanding of flexural behaviour of the GFRP strengthened beams, and other characteristics such as the load-deflection behaviour, load-stiffness behaviour, ductility, and failure modes. Test results show that GFRP strengthened beams exhibit a higher load bearing capacity, minimum deflection, enhanced ductility, and better energy absorption characteristics, and that all these properties are dependent on the number of wrapping layers used.