Advances in Durability Performance and Service-life Prediction of Innovative Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Bars

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Corrosion of steel reinforcement in concrete infrastructure is a major durability problem, leading to structural degradation and consequent costly repairs and loss of serviceability. According to the 2012 Canadian Infrastructure Report Card, a significant amount of Canadian municipal infrastructure ranks between "fair" and "very poor" (about 35%, on average). Replacing these assets nationally would alone total $171.8 billion. A relatively recent solution receiving global attention is fibre-reinforced-polymer (FRP) reinforcing bars as a cost-effective alternative to conventional steel bars. Given their corrosion resistance, light weight, and high strength, FRP bars have been used in Canada for the last 20 years for infrastructure such bridge decks, parking garages, and continuous pavements. The lack of appropriate data about the long-term durability poses a major obstacle to broader acceptance and mass implementation of FRP bars. This Discovery Grant (DG) includes new, innovative research, in addition to extending the long-term laboratory and field experiments needed to develop and validate the performance of new generations of FRP bars with enhanced durability properties and high performance / cost ratios. The proposed work will investigate the long-term performance of new advanced materials and FRP products, yield understanding and modeling FRP-bar degradation mechanisms, and validate rigorous methods of predicting FRP-bar performance in terms of constituents, composites, and FRP-reinforced concrete members over a long period of time. This would be done with a view to using fundamental scientific findings to improve the durability performance of FRP bars and the design of economic concrete structures reinforced with FRP bars. Comprehensive methods will be employed to examine the impact of various physical/environmental/load/synergetic parameters on long-term performance. This Discovery Grant will push back the boundaries of knowledge about FRP bars incorporating a new class of glass fibres, new basalt fibres, resin systems with low permeability, and new materials such as nanocomposites. The proposed work is transformative because it will lead to new FRP bars with greater durability and physical/mechanical properties, to accurate performance predictive models, and to development of durability-based code specifications. This will benefit Canadian and international design consultants and regulators, owners, and the construction industry, all of whom will be able to place greater confidence in these structural materials. In addition, as Canada's leader in developing and successfully using FRP-bar technology in infrastructure applications, this research will maintain/enhance Canada's leadership in this industry. The proposed research will be implemented through the training of 8 doctoral and 2 master's students.