Lap splices in steel fiber-reinforced reactive powder concrete beams under dynamic loading

Abstract

Reactive powder concrete is a new cement-based composite with ultra-high strength and performance that has been recently used in many structural elements. This study is focused on studying the effect of lap splices in reinforcing bars on the behavior, strength and deflection of steel fiber-reinforced reactive powder concrete beams under dynamic-harmonic loading. The models were simulated using finite elements approach by ANSYS software with different parameters such as compressive strength of concrete, lap splices length of reinforcing bars, steel fiber percentage and the presence of stirrups in the lap splices zone. Data from experimental test by others were adopted as input data such as loading and mechanical properties of concrete and reinforcements. Total eight beam models were analyzed and two of them were compared with the experimental tests. The analysis results indicate that the criteria based on the ACI code for lap splices is enough in the case of splices in reinforced concrete beam under the effects of harmonic loadings under low and medium frequency ranges, and showed that the increase in lap splice length under the effect of harmonic loading resulted in a decrease in the deflection of beams, especially in case of medium frequency.