The present study considers the flexural behaviour of concrete beams pre-tensioned with ara-mid fibre reinforced plastic (AFRP) tendons. AFRP materials are linearly elastic and do not yield. Hence, failure due to the tendons rupturing is brittle and sudden. However, failure due to concrete crushing is also deemed to be undesirable. The current work demonstrates how a high rotational capacity can be achieved using a composite made up of two brittle materials.rnA series of small scale beams were cast using two types of AFRP or steel tendons. The influence of bond was investigated by testing beams with bonded tendons, unbonded tendons or partially bonded tendons. It was found that, unlike the bonded and unbonded beams, the beams with partially bonded tendons achieved both a high rotation capacity and a high ultimate load.
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