Behavior of Light Weight Reinforced Concrete Deep Beams with Polypropylene Fibers | ||||
Engineering Research Journal (Shoubra) | ||||
Volume 54, Issue 2, April 2025, Page 27-37 PDF (1.89 MB) | ||||
Document Type: Research articles | ||||
DOI: 10.21608/erjsh.2025.363223.1401 | ||||
![]() | ||||
Authors | ||||
Ahmed Mohamed Abd-ELrahem ![]() ![]() | ||||
1Department of Civil Engineering, Higher Institute of Engineering, 15th of May City, Cairo, Egypt. | ||||
2Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering at Shoubra, Benha University, Cairo, Egypt. | ||||
Abstract | ||||
The main objective of this research is to study the influence of polypropylene fibers on the behavior of lightweight concrete (LWC) deep beams with low and normal concrete grades. In addition, it is to investigate the main role of polypropylene fibers on the concrete material properties and the shear capacity of deep beams. Furthermore, it is to study the effect of some variable parameters on structural behavior to improve stiffness, ductility, crack width, and ultimate load capacity. The paper explores the impact of nine parameters on the behavior as: (1) volume of fiber (Vf = 0%, 0.1%, 0.05%, and 0.2%); (2) fiber aspect ratio (Lf/Ff = 26, 42 and 68); (3) longitudinal reinforcement ratio (m/mmax = 0.3,0.4 and 0.5). Finally, a comparison between experimental results and nonlinear finite element predictions using ANSYS V15 was performed. The testing results indicate that polypropylene fibers have been shown to significantly enhance the properties of lightweight concrete (LWC), with increases in compressive strength, tensile strength, and overall performance by 10.5%, 6.5%, and 10.75%, respectively. Additionally, both deformation resistance and workability of the concrete were notably improved. The comparison between experimental and numerical results demonstrated a strong correlation, with mean values for cracking load, ultimate load, and deflection at ultimate load closely aligning, achieving agreement rates of 95.98%, 100.72%, and 102.15%, respectively. | ||||
Keywords | ||||
Light-weight; Fibers; Nonlinear finite element; Code; STM | ||||
Statistics Article View: 80 PDF Download: 13 |
||||