Reinforced Concrete Beam Behavior in Bending Research Paper

Reinforced Concrete Beam Behavior in Bending - Research Paper Example ProcedureThe setup of the apparatus involved a beam that was in the machine with the gauge across the beam’s depth. It was loaded in flexure. The load in the concrete beam was increased uniformly from 0KN up to a load of 41.95KN. From the gauge reading taken, there was very little deflection at the beginning. The increase of the load was gradual. The beam first had a crack at the bottom when the load applied in the middle of the beam reached 10KN. There was a record of all gauge readings and deflections with each increment. Further increments of 2KN followed but with only the deflection readings recorded.   At the point where the beam deflection started increasing rapidly, the deflection gauge was removed. The beam was then loaded up to failure. The beam failed at 41.95 KN.The table below shows the results of the observations and readings from the gauge and applied load in the experiment.  DiscussionI. The development of cracksThe beam experience different loading conditio ns where the deflection on of the beam indicated the effect of the load on the beam. More increases to the load took the concrete beam to its elastic limit. Beyond the elastic limit, the beam experience permanent deformation. At a load of 10KN, the beam started developing cracks as it had reached its elastic limit. The cracked section demonstrates the behaviour of the material. It was elastic with light loads but with high loads, it became plastic and cracks started to appear.