Flexural Strength and Behavior of Babadua-Reinforced Concrete Beams

Investigations conducted on the strength and deformation characteristics of 23 concrete beams reinforced with babadua bars are reported in this paper. Different percentages by area of tensile reinforcement ranging from 2.87 to 12.13 were used in the beams, which measured 100 × 180 mm and 135 × 235 mm with spans of 1.5 m and 1.8 m, respectively. Stirrups formed from babadua bars approximately 8 mm in diameter were used in six of the beams. The beams were tested to failure generally under third-point loading. Collapse of the beams occurred through either flexural failure by crushing of concrete in compression or diagonal tension failure. The experimental failure loads for all beams averaged, respectively, 6.40 and 2.62 times the theoretical flexural strength and theoretical shear strength of the unreinforced concrete section. On the other hand, the experimental failure loads were only about 1.18 times the theoretical flexural strength of the reinforced concrete and 1.05 times the theoretical shear strength of the concrete sections, taking into consideration the resistance of the tension reinforcement.