Author(s)

P. J. Sasturkar

Abstract

Ten simply supported grossly under-reinforced tapered concrete beams of full size were tested up to complete collapse under flexural effect .Out of 10 beams, 5 beams were non-fibrous and the remaining beams contained fibres. The beams had a variation in the tapered angle as 2°, 4°, 6°, 8° and 10°. The concrete mix, conventional steel and the type of fibre used were held constant. Flat corrugated steel fibres were utilized as secondary reinforcement. The strength and stability parameters were measured. It is established that the fibrous tapered beams can be used economically in earthquake prone areas. Keywords: earthquake, grossly under-reinforced sections, fibre reinforced concrete, tapered beams. 1 Introduction Concrete is probably the most widely used man made construction material around the world. The use of different types of fibres in varying shapes and sizes along with the ingredients of concrete was investigated to produce a composite material called ‘Fibre Reinforced Concrete’ (FRC) or ‘Fibrous Concrete’. The progress and economics of construction technology depends on the intelligent use of materials and on the continuous improvement of available materials. Fibres arrest cracks and increase the tensile strength of concrete as was proved by Romauldi and Batson [1]. The ductility of fibrous beams is also increased as shown by Swamy and Mangat [2], Sasturkar [3] and Kaushik and Sasturkar [4]. Liang and Galvez [5] proved that the peak-load capacity and fracture toughness, as indicator of ductility, were enhanced. Crack resistance and fracture toughness of fibrous beams is enhanced as shown by Johnston and Gray [6] and Balaguru et al. [7]. Ramakrishnan and

Keywords

earthquake, grossly under-reinforced sections, fibre reinforced concrete, tapered beams.