The effect of construction joints on the flexural bending capacity of singly reinforced beams

Abstract

The main reason of this paper is to show the difference in the bending capacity between a singly reinforced monolithic beam and a singly reinforced beam with a construction joint at the center, for different compressive strength (fc) of concrete. The ASTM standards were respected during testing. Nowadays, it is very rare to build a concrete structure without using construction joint, whether intended or unintentionally. On site, the engineer or the foreman would really wonder if he can find an equation or a chart that relate the bending capacity of the concrete with the use of construction joint in function of the compressive strength. In addition to that, it is very important to know by how much this construction joint has affected the flexural bending capacity of the concrete.