In the present study, an attempt has been made to experimentally investigate the flexural performance of ten simply supported reinforced concrete gable roof beams, including solid control specimen (i.e., without openings) and nine beams with web openings of different dimensions and configurations. The nine beams with openings have identical reinforcement details. All beams were monotonically loaded to failure under mid-span loading. The main variables were the number of the created openings, the total area of the created openings, and the inclination angle of the posts between openings. Of interest is the load-carrying capacity, cracking resistance and propagation, deformability, failure mode, and strain development that represent the behavior of reinforced concrete gable beams. Test results showed that the total concrete weight consumed for the tested gable beams with openings was lower than the solid gable beam by (14.9–26%). This reduction in weight led to a reduction in the flexural stiffness and, in turn. in the load-carrying capacity by (6.2–17.9%). The percentage of the decrease in the concrete consumption to the reduction in the load-carrying capacity for the tested beams with openings attained (140–240%). It was recorded that the maximum crack width depended on the total area of the created openings rather than the number of these openings.
This paper aims to investigate the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete beams considering fire resistance by adding Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregates (LECA) to the concrete mix as partial coarse aggregate replacement. LECA is a type of porous clay with a uniform pore structure with fine, closed cells and hard, tightly sintered skin. The experimental work comprised four reinforced self-compacted concrete beams. All the specimens were identical in their geometrical layout of 1600×240×200 mm, reinforcement details, and support condition (simply supported). For all the beams, the main reinforcement was provided by two bars, each having a diameter of 12 mm, while a bar of 6 mm diameter was employed for the top and shear reinforc
... Show MoreThe construction of embankment for roadway interchange system at urban area is restricted due to the large geometry requirements, since the value of land required for such construction is high, and the area available is limited as compared to rural area. One of the optimum solutions to such problem is the earth reinforcement technique which requires a limited area for embankment construction. Gypseous soil from Al-Anbar governorate area was obtained and subjected to various physical and chemical analysis to determine it is properties. A laboratory model box of 50x50x25 cm was used as a representative embankment; soil has been compacted in five layers at maximum dry density (modified compaction) and an aluminum reinforcement strips we
... Show MoreThe construction of embankment for roadway interchange system at urban area is restricted due to the large geometry requirements, since the value of land required for such construction is high, and the area available is limited as compared to rural area. One of the optimum solutions to such problem is the earth reinforcement technique which requires a limited area for embankment construction. Gypseous soil from Al-Anbar governorate area was obtained and subjected to various physical and chemical analysis to determine it is properties. A laboratory model box of 50x50x25 cm was used as a representative embankment; soil has been compacted in five layers at maximum dry density (modified compaction) and an aluminum reinforcement strips were i
... Show MorePushover analysis is an efficient method for the seismic evaluation of buildings under severe earthquakes. This paper aims to develop and verify the pushover analysis methodology for reinforced concrete frames. This technique depends on a nonlinear representation of the structure by using SAP2000 software. The properties of plastic hinges will be defined by generating the moment-curvature analysis for all the frame sections (beams and columns). The verification of the technique above was compared with the previous study for two-dimensional frames (4-and 7-story frames). The former study leaned on automatic identification of positive and negative moments, where the concrete sections and steel reinforcement quantities the
... Show MoreThe behavior investigation of castellated beams with fiber-reinforced lightweight concrete deck slab as a modified choice for composite steel-concrete beams affected by harmonic load is presented in this study. The experimental program involved six fixed-supported castellated beams of 2140mm size. Three types of concrete were included: Normal Weight Concrete (NWC), Lightweight Aggregate Concrete (LWAC), and Lightweight Fiber-Reinforced Aggregate Concrete (LWACF). The specimens were divided into two groups: the first comprised three specimens tested under harmonic load effect of 30Hz operation frequency for 3 days, then the residual strength was determined through static load application. The second group included three specimens ide
... Show MoreEncasing glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) beam with reinforced concrete (RC) improves stability, prevents buckling of the web, and enhances the fire resistance efficiency. This paper provides experimental and numerical investigations on the flexural performance of RC specimens composite with encased pultruded GFRP I-sections. The effect of using shear studs to improve the composite interaction between the GFRP beam and concrete was explored. Three specimens were tested under three-point loading. The deformations, strains in the GFRP beams, and slippages between the GFRP beams and concrete were recorded. The embedded GFRP beam enhanced the peak loads by 65% and 51% for the composite specimens with and without shear connectors,
... Show MoreCurrent design codes and specifications allow for part of the bonded flexure tension reinforcement to be distributed over an effective flange width when the T-beams' flanges are in tension. This study presents an experimental and numerical investigation on the reinforced concrete flanged section's flexural behavior when reinforcement in the tension flange is laterally distributed. To achieve the goals of the study, numerical analysis using the finite element method was conducted on discretized flanged beam models validated via experimentally tested T-beam specimen. Parametric study was performed to investigate the effect of different parameters on the T-beams flexural behavior. The study revealed that a significant reduction in the
... Show MoreThe performance of composite prestressed concrete beam topped with reinforced concrete flange structures in fire depends upon several factors, including the change in properties of the two different materials due to fire exposure and temperature distribution within the composition of the composite members of the structure. The present experimental work included casting of 12 identical simply supported prestressed concrete beams grouped into 3 categories, depending on the strength of the top reinforced concrete deck slab (20, 30, and 40 MPa). They were connected together by using shear connector reinforcements. To simulate the real practical fire disasters, 3 composite prestressed concrete beams from each group were exposed to high t
... Show More