Experimental Investigation on Flexural Behaviour and Ductility of Two-Span RC Beams Cast with High Performance Composites HPFRCC

The particular weaknesses of concrete are brittle fracture and lack of material ductility, so using steel reinforcements and discrete fibres are an attempt to overcome this weakness. Strain hardening behaviour under tensile force has made new material HPFRCC as a high performance material with high energy absorption capability and high cracking ability before failure, Therefore the structural application of this composite material in the structural members such as continuous beams to control cracks and improve ductility has come to the believed border. In this paper, the effect of using HPFRCC containing 2% steel fibres on the flexural performance of four large two-span reinforced concrete beams has experimentally been investigated. Two beams were conventional concrete with two different arrangements of stirrups in the central support area and two other beams were companion but made with full HPFRCC composites, all beams with two equal spans of 1800 mm were loaded under concentrated force applied in the middle of the span symmetrical and incrementally. The results indicated that the use of HPFRCC with 2% steel fibre in the specimens increased the ductility, energy absorption, and bearing capacity, as well as an appropriate re-distributing moment in the plastic area of reinforced concrete continuous beam with two spans.