Abstract:
Many aspacts have been investigated previously in relation with the failure of
concrete bridge girders. The main reasons for failure of bridge girders are cracking,
heavy loads, crazing and mortar detaching. Among the aforementioned aspects,
cracking is said to be the one which severly affects the strength and serviceability
of concrete bridge girders. Cracking in concrete is due to high strength gained
by cement content, water cement ratio and reduction strain. Cracking can be
controlled by improving the mechanical properties of concrete. The use of jute
fiber with GFRP rebar has achieved attention of researchers due to more ductility,
resistance to heat and light weight. GFRP rebars can be used as alternatives for
ordinary steel. This thesis presents the contribution of GFRP rebars and jute fiber
to control cracking and improving the mechanical properties of concrete. Beamlets of reinforced concrete with different flexural GFRP rebars and shear steel
bars, with and without jute fiber, were experimentally investigated to study the
variation in properties due to introduction of jute fibers. Flexural strength of the
concrete bridge girders was measured during the lab experiments. The experiments
revealed significant increase in flexural strength, energy absorption, and toughness
index of the gorders. Furthermore, integration of jute fiber showed better cracking
control mechanism in GFRP rebars concrete. In conclusion concrete bridge girders
having jute fiber are more durable and sustainable as compared to the concrete
bridge girder having no jute fiber.
