Effect of recycled concrete aggregates on the shear behavior of reinforced concrete beams

Abstract

This project aims to study the shear behavior of reinforced concrete beams made with Recycled Concrete Aggregates (RCA). Three beams were cast. The first beam was cast with natural coarse aggregates to serve as control beam. The second beam was made with 50% replacement ratio of coarse aggregates and the third beam was made entirely with recycled concrete aggregates. The replacement by volume was used in this project. The sand was not replaced in this work. The beams have 150 x 300 mm cross section with 3m length and were subjected to four point loading test. All beams have same reinforcement ratio ρ=1.04%. The shear reinforcement was emitted in order to study the effect of the replacement level of RCA on ultimate shear strength with each beam nine specimens were cast to measure concrete compressive strength, flexural tensile strength, splitting tensile strength and modulus of elasticity. Results showed that with 100% replacement level we have a decrease in the shear capacity and modulus of elasticity.