Experimental Investigation into the Effects of Construction Errors in Reinforced Concrete Beams

Abstract

This research investigated through experimental procedure the effects of construction errors in flexural and shear reinforcement of reinforced concrete (RC) beams. This was achieved by casting and testing fifteen RC beam specimens (1000 × 120 × 150mm) under the four point bending test in Heavy Structures Laboratory at Swansea University UK. The test variable is the arrangement of tensile steel reinforcements and transverse shear links. Beam specimens were categorized into two series according to their designed modes of failure i.e. flexural and shear. Flexural specimens were significantly reinforced in shear, to ensure flexural failure whist shear specimens were significantly reinforced in flexure to ensure shear failure. For each specimen series, three cast beam specimens served as the control whilst nine others (three for each construction error investigated) were cast with a construction error in either tensile steel reinforcement or transverse shear links. Analysis and discussion of results is based on the failure modes, ultimate loads sustained and load-deflection behaviour of beam specimens. Test results indicate that a reduction in the effective depth of specimens in the flexural series led to an 8.14% and 28.6% decrease in strength and ductility of beam specimens. For the shear series; the removal of a transverse shear link and the inclination of transverse shear links at 60° resulted in 14.1% and 10.6% decrease in strength and 12.8% and 20.9% decrease in ductility respectively.