Reinforced Concrete Moderate Deep Beams with Embedded PVC Pipes

Abstract

      The test results of six reinforced concrete moderate deep beams with embedded PVC pipes are reported. The tests studied the effect of installation of PVC pipe on behavior of reinforced concrete moderate deep beams. The test parameters were the diameters and locations of the pipes. The dimensions of beams were 1000 mm length, 150 mm width and 300mm depth. One beam was constructed without pipe as control and the remaining five had embedded pipes. Four pipe diameters were used: 25.4, 50.8, 76.2, and 101.6 mm and these pipes were inserted longitudinally either at the center of the beams or near the tension reinforcement. The beams were simply supported and tested under central concentrated load up to failure. The test results indicated that, the pipe diameter less than 1/3 of the beam width had limited effect on the capacity and rigidity of beam. For larger pipes, the ultimate strength of beams decreased between 16.7% and 33.3% and the beams stiffness decreased between 103% and 297%.