Study on Flexural Bearing Capacity of Reinforced Concrete Beams with Artificial Shell Aggregate

Abstract

Two reinforced concrete beams with different reinforcement ratios are designed by using the formulas and assumptions of normal section flexural bearing capacity of ordinary concrete, and the static flexural tests are carried out. The coarse aggregate used in the reinforced concrete beam is artificial shell aggregate. The strain curves of concrete with different cross-section heights prove that the RC test beam accords with the assumption of plane cross-section in the bending process. The crack distribution and mid-span deflection curve trend of the test beam show that the crack develops rapidly and the deflection of the beam increases sharply before the reinforced concrete beam with artificial shell aggregate is destroyed completely, which gives obvious damage omen and is consistent with that of the ordinary reinforced concrete beam. The strain curve of the mid-span steel bar shows that the shell aggregate above the steel bar is crushed under a certain load after the mid-span longitudinal tension steel bar is yielded, the stress of the steel bar is released, the phenomenon of strain retraction occurs, and the possibility of the mid-span steel bar being pulled off is reduced. The results show that the mechanical properties of reinforced concrete of artificial shell aggregate used as coarse aggregate of structural concrete are similar to those of ordinary concrete and it is possible to use artificial shell aggregate in structural components.