ABSTRACT
Abstract A series of tests conducted to investigate the response of concrete slabs reinforced with commercially available pultruded fiber-reinforced-plastic (FRP) gratings when subjected to concentrated punching loads are described. Six rotationally-restrained half-scale bridge deck slabs were tested. The slabs were reinforced with different configurations of pultruded gratings in order to study the effect of reinforcement ratio, lap splice geometry, and splicing method on load carrying capacity, slab stiffness, failure mode, and post-peak load-deformation characteristics. Preliminary results of the experimental study indicate that reinforcement ratio was not a factor in the peak load carrying capacity due membrane action in the restrained slabs. Neither was the peak load significantly affected by splice geometry and method. However, splice geometry and method had an influence of the post-peak load carrying capacity of the slabs and on the extent of the punching failure envelope. Load carrying capacities of the grating reinforced slabs were found to be similar to those reported for steel reinforced slabs subjected to punching shear loads. Keywords: Bridge decks, concrete slabs, experimental testing, pultruded gratings, punching shear.
