Shear critical Reinforced Concrete beams with Recycled Coarse Aggregate

Abstract

Abstract Various kinds of structures are made of premier construction material, concrete. Concrete is extensively used, only second for water; world consumption of concrete is staggering at 4.5 billion tons a year. All the constituent raw materials that go in the production of concrete are Ordinary Portland cement, coarse aggregate and sand which are valuable natural resources; these are facing fast depletion, as the demand for concrete is rising by leaps and bounds. In this context, conservation of concrete materials is inevitable at all costs. The world concrete industry consumes over ten billion tons of coarse aggregate annually. To conserve the natural coarse aggregate, industrial by-products must be increasingly substituted for natural coarse aggregate. In big and overpopulated cities, old and dilapidated structures are demolished for new constructions; the waste can serve as an alternative source, named recycled coarse aggregate (R.C.A). The current research is directed to investigate the suitability of R.C.A as natural coarse aggregate (N.C.A), in shear critical reinforced concrete beams.