Flexural performance of reinforced concrete beams made with locally sourced fly ash

Abstract

The paper investigates the flexural performance of reinforced concrete beams in which fly ash from Vinh Tan power station was used to replace original Portland cement in the proportions of 0%, 10%, 20% and 40% by weight. Twelve reinforced concrete beams with the dimensions of 100×150 mm in cross section and 1000 mm in length were cast and cured in water. These beams were flexurally tested under 4 points bending at 28 days, 56 days and 90 days. Load deflection curves, first cracking load, yielding of steel bars, ultimate load, and cracking pattern of the reinforced concrete beams are used to investigate the performance of the control and fly ash beams at 28 days, 56 days and 90 days. The results show that locally sourced fly ash does not affect the load and deflection curves. Fly ash reduced slightly the flexural strength of reinforced concrete beams at 90 days when 40% of fly ash was used to replaced Portland cement.
 Keywords:
 fly ash; reinforced concrete beam; flexural performance; load; deflection.