Title: Evaluation of mechanical characteristics of concrete beams under constant loading with alkali-silica reaction

Authors: Alireza Joshaghani; Mohammad Amin Moeini; Erfan Hajibandeh

Addresses: Zachry Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, 199 Spence St., Suite 508K CE/TTI Building, 3135 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843-3135, USA ' Department of Civil Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran Province, Tehran, District 6, 424 Hafez Ave., 159163-4311, Iran ' Department of Civil Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran Province, Tehran, District 6, 424 Hafez Ave., 159163-4311, Iran

Abstract: This experiment studies the damaging alkali-silica reaction (ASR) expansion effects on the structural performance and mechanical properties of reinforced concrete beams. The beams were cured under standard conditions. In order to provide in-service situations, flexural loading was applied on beams to induce cracks. The newly formed strains on concrete beams were measured along with the compression and tension sections. The results showed that beams with high reactivity in aggregates suffered from more compression strain. It is noteworthy that increasing compression steel with constant tension steel eventuated to substantial effects on tension expansion. Furthermore, increasing the tension steel, while keeping compression steel constant, resulted in minor influences on compression-expansion. Effects of ASR phenomena on the mechanical characteristics and the expansion of concrete are more important and noticeable on reinforced concrete beams. In concrete beams with ASR, ultimate loading was decreased because of largely irreversible steel strains.

Keywords: alkali-silica reaction; ASR; concrete; crack; tension; compression; reinforced beams.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTRUCTE.2017.089393

International Journal of Structural Engineering, 2017 Vol.8 No.4, pp.327 - 344

Received: 30 Mar 2017
Accepted: 25 Jul 2017

Published online: 22 Jan 2018 *

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