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This paper compares the results of two experimental studies on bond strength of steel and GFRP bars in the case of self-consolidating concrete (SCC). Each study included pull-out tests of thirty six reinforcing bars embedded in concrete specimens. Two types of concretes, normal concrete and self-consolidating concrete were used in different studies. Different parameters such as bar location and cover thickness were considered as variables in different specimens. The comparison between the results of GFRP reinforcing bars with those of steel deformed bars showed that the splitting bond strength of GFRP reinforcing bars was comparable to that of steel bars in both normal strength and self-consolidating concrete (SCC). The bond strength of bottom reinforcing bars was almost the same for both normal concrete and self-consolidating concrete. However, for the top bars, the bond strength of self-consolidating concrete was less than that of normal concrete.

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Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) is a highly fluid yet stable concrete that can flow consistently under its own weight, pass between bars, and fill in formwork without the need of compaction. The application of SCC effectively resolves the difficulties of concreting in situations with complicated formwork and congested reinforcements. In this paper, the bond between SCC and steel reinforcement was investigated. The bonding strengths of reinforcing bars were measured using cubic specimens of SCC and of normal concrete. The SCC specimens were cast without applying compaction, whereas the specimens of normal concrete were cast by conventional practice with substantial compaction and vibration. The results showed that SCC specimens generated higher bond to reinforcing bars than normal concrete specimens and the correlation between bond strength and compressive strength of NC is more consistent.

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In this study, a comparison is made between force and displacement controlled non-linear FE analyses for an RC beam in flexure with partially developed steel bars. An FE model with slightly unsymmetrical reinforcement was analyzed by applying two-point loading using both force and displacement controlled methods. The responses obtained using ANSYS-13 were validated against available experimental data. Combined comparative display of flexural response of the beam using force and displacement controlled analysis, that has least been addressed in the literature, is given here. Study choses large-deformation-nonlinear plastic analysis scheme, discrete modeling approach for material modeling and program-chosen incremental scheme following Newton-Raphson method. The results show that displacement controlled approach is efficient in terms of time saving and less disk space requirement along with the ability to give falling branch of load-deflection response, if element displacement capacity still exists. Moreover, it gives an early estimate of the load carrying capacity of the structural element along with suitable values of convergence and non-linear solution parameters. However, for a beam with unsymmetrical detailing, force controlled analysis method seems to yield more realistic and practical results in terms of mid span deflection and beam cracking behavior compared with assumed symmetric displacement controlled technique. It also gives true fracture prediction at ultimate load level, which is not true for the displacement controlled method as the computer code forces the model to maintain equal displacements at two load points, falsely increasing the capacity of the beam.