Physical and Mechanical Properties and Durability Characteristics of New Pultruded GFRP Bars with Thermoplastic Resin

This paper presents an experimental study that investigated the physical and mechanical properties as well as the tensile properties, transverse shear strength, and interlaminar shear strength of a newly developed glass fiber–reinforced polymer (GFRP) bar pultruded with a novel thermoplastic resin. The performance of the newly developed thermoplastic GFRP bar was compared with that of conventional thermoset-based GFRP bars pultruded with vinyl-ester resin to evaluate its suitability as internal reinforcement for concrete structures. Moreover, this study evaluated the durability characteristics of the newly developed thermoplastic GFRP bars under alkaline environmental conditions. The experimental results presented herein show that the performance of the newly developed thermoplastic GFRP bars tested exceeded that of the minimum mechanical properties specified in recent standards. Moreover, the new GFRP bars displayed high long-term durability performance. The findings of this study indicate the potential of the newly developed thermoplastic GFRP bars as a viable alternative to conventional reinforcement materials. Their favorable mechanical behavior supports their use in concrete structures, contributing to improved durability, sustainability, and overall performance.