Experimental Shear Study on Reinforced High Strength Concrete Beams Made Using Blended Cement

Abstract

With the increased application of High Strength Concrete (HSC) in

construction and lack of proper guidelines for structural design in India,

behavioral study of high strength concrete is an important aspect of

research. Research on the behavior of HSC reinforced beams with concrete

strength more than 60 MPa has been carried out in the past and is still

continuing to understand the structural behavior of HSC beams. Along with

the many benefits of the high strength concrete, the more brittle behavior is

of concern which leads to sudden failure. This paper presents the behavior

of reinforced HSC beams in shear with considering the effects of various

factors like shear reinforcement ratio, longitudinal reinforcement ratio, l/d

ratio (length to depth ratio), etc. Ten numbers Reinforced Concrete Beams

of various sizes using concrete mix with three different w/c ratios (0.46, 0.26

and 0.21) were cast for shear strength assessment. The beams were tested in

simply supported condition over two fixed steel pedestals with load rate of

0.2 mm/minute in displacement control. Mid-point deflection was measured

using LVDT. A comparative analysis of theoretical approaches of Euro

code, extension of current IS code up to M90 and the experimental data

was done to understand the behavior of beams. Shear capacities of beams

without any factors of safety were used to assess the actual capacities and

then was compared with the experimental capacity obtained. Results of

this study can be used in the design of high strength concrete and will be

more reliable in Indian continent as the regional materials and exposure

conditions were considered.