Comparison Between the Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Beams and RPC Beams Under Bending and Torsion Moments

Abstract

Abstract Typically, the beams were subjected to bending and torsion moments especially at building edge. However, most of the studies focus on the flexural or torsional behavior of the beams independently, and few studies investigated these two combined effects. The research intends to explore the structural behavior of eight 1500mm x 200 mm x 150 mm rectangular beams that were tested under the combined effects of bending and torsional moments, with four main values of (T/M) ratio: pure bending, pure torsion, and two combined cases. The research investigates the effect of using reactive powder concrete (RPC) on beam behavior compared to normal concrete (NC). The outcome demonstrates that using RPC in beams instead of NC beams will significantly increases the cracking capacity by 136.4% in the case of pure bending and significantly increases the ultimate capacity by 118% in the case of combined moments with (T/M = 1). Also, using RPC leads to significant reduction in deflection and rotation values especially after beam cracking. RPC reduces compressive concrete strain and values of strains in longitudinal and transverse reinforcement especially in advanced loading stages.