Strength of Reinforced Reactive Powder Concrete Hollow Beams

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to investigate the structural behavior and strength of reinforced reactive powder concrete beams with a hollow section subjected under two point concentrated loading. The experimental work consist of ten beams with dimensions (150mm width×200mm height×1000 mm length), eight of them are hollow beams and two solid beams were cast and tested up to failure. The major parameters adopted in the current research includes the hollowness ratio (10% and15%), hollow location (at top or at bottom), and hollow shape (circle or square). The amount of longitudinal and transverse reinforcement, concrete strength and the other parameters were kept constant for all the specimens. The comparisons between all specimens (hollow and solid) are based on the load carrying capacity, deflection, crack pattern and mode of failures. Results showed that the strength capacity of hollow beam when the hollow lies in the bottom is much higher than for top hollow, and the square hollow will lead to more decrease in the beam strength compared with the circular hollow and this is more evident when the hollowness ratio increases from (10% to 15%).