Investigations on the effects of rebar diameter on the post-fire bond capacity of RC flexural members and development of a novel post-fire bond model

This study is part of a comprehensive research effort focused on examining the impact of various parameters on the post-fire bond behaviour of RC flexural members. Precisely, the impact of the rebar diameter is thoroughly discussed. Beam-end specimens, which realistically simulate the boundary conditions of a full-scale beam while maintaining a relatively compact size, were subjected to ISO 834 fire curve. To investigate the behaviour of lap-splice in a slab and beam, two different fire exposure scenarios, where one side (slab) and three sides (beam) of the specimens were exposed to fire, were considered. It is evident that although the initial and residual load-carrying capacities increase with larger rebar diameters in absolute terms, the differences in residual bond capacities remain relatively insignificant across nearly all examined fire-exposure durations. Based on the evaluation of the test results, a model for local bond stress-slip curve of bond affected by fire is proposed.