PROPOSED EQUATIONS FOR ESTIMATING THE FLEXURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF REINFORCED HPFRCC BEAMS

HPFRCC materials are a class of cement composites with fine aggregates that exhibit
strain hardening behavior under tensile loading. This strain hardening response occurs after the
first cracking of the material. In this paper, experimental and theoretical studies were conducted to
assess the influence of using HPFRCC material instead of normal concrete in RC beams. The
theoretical results for simply supported beams with different values of compressive strengths are
presented and compared with the available experimental data. Results indicate that using HPFRCC
material instead of normal concrete in RC beams concludes to more ultimate load, deflection and
ductility compared to normal reinforced concrete beams. Moreover, new theoretical equations are
proposed for estimating the flexural characteristics of reinforced composite and reinforced
HPFRCC beams. Results show that the flexural capacity of reinforced HPFRCC beams is about
6.4% higher than that of RC beams. Moreover, flexural capacity of experimental reinforced
HPFRCC beams is about 11.2% higher than that of theoretical values.