Load-Deflection Behavior of Hybrid Beams Containing Reactive Powder Concrete and Conventional Concrete

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental investigation consist of casting and testing of twenty four rectangular simply supported reinforced concrete beams. Three of the tested beams were made with conventional concrete (CC), five with reactive powder concrete (RPC) and sixteen as hybrid beams of the two types of concrete. RPC is used in tension zone (at the bottom) in ten hybrid beams and in the compression zone in the other six beams. Experimental results show that the stiffer load-deflection behavior is obtained with the increase of RPC layer thickness (hR/h), steel fibers volumetric ratio (Vf) and longitudinal steel ratio (ρ) for hybrid beams with RPC in tension as well as in compression. However, the effect of (ρ) is more pronounced than that of the other factors. Using RPC in compression is found to be more effective than using RPC in tension.