Effect of Shear Studs and High Moments on Punching Behavior of GFRP-RC Slab–Column Edge Connections

Abstract

This paper presents test results of six full-scale glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) reinforced concrete slab–column edge connections. The test connections included two series with three connections each. The connections of Series 1 investigated the effect of a new type of GFRP shear reinforcement on the punching shear behavior of slab-column edge connections, while those of Series 2 investigated the effect of moment-to-shear ratio. For Series 1, one connection did not have shear reinforcement, while the other two connections had ribbed-deformed GFRP shear studs with headed ends at different radial spacing (120 and 80 mm). For Series 2, three different moment-to-shear ratios were applied to the connections (0.2, 0.4, and 0.6 m). The typical dimensions of the slabs were 2,800×1,550×200 mm with a 300-mm square column extending above and below the slab. The headed ends of the studs provided adequate anchorage, which allowed the studs to control the propagation of shear cracks and to increase the deformability and capacity of the connections. On the other hand, increasing the moment-to-shear ratio significantly decreased the deformability and shear force capacity of the connections.