Influence of coarse aggregate on the shear strength of reinforced concrete beams

Abstract

Research to accurately predict the shear capacity of reinforced concrete beams without shear reinforcement has been ongoing since the early 20th century. Aggregate interlock of the coarse aggregates at the shear crack interface is one of the internal mechanisms of shear transfer and a major contributor to the shear capacity of slender beams. It is plausible, therefore, to investigate if the coarse aggregate itself influences the shear capacity of a concrete beam. The influence of the type of coarse aggregate on the shear capacity of beams without shear reinforcement was investigated in this study. From the literature study an understanding of the properties of coarse aggregates was gained, the internal mechanisms of shear transfer in reinforced concrete beams without shear reinforcement were determined, and the parameters influencing shear strength were identified. Based on this information an experimental program was designed. Eighteen reinforced concrete beams without shear reinforcement were cast. The beams were cast from three different types of coarse aggregates commonly used in the Durban area, i.e., dolerite, quartzite and tillite. For each type of coarse aggregate two variations were tested, i.e., 13 mm and 19 mm maximum aggregate sizes. For each size of coarse aggregate, three concrete strengths were tested. The beams were loaded in a beam press, by applying an increasing point load offset from midspan to induce cracking on the shorter side, until shear failure of the beam occurred. For the three concrete strengths, beams cast from dolerite had the highest shear capacity while beams cast from tillite had less shear capacity than beams cast from quartzite coarse aggregate. Furthermore, beams cast from 13 mm maximum size coarse aggregate had higher shear capacity than beams cast from 19 mm aggregate. The conclusion may be drawn that the type and size of coarse aggregate does influence the shear strength of a reinforced concrete beam without shear reinforcement.