EURO MED SEC 02


EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF THE FLEXURAL BEHAVIOR OF CONCRETE BEAMS REINFORCED WITH STIFF BIAXIAL GEOGRID

ZAHER AL BASIOUNI AL MASRI, RANA HAJ CHHADE, GHASSAN CHEHAB


Abstract

Limited research exists on the benefits of using geogrids to reinforce Portland cement concrete structural and non-structural members. Preliminary research findings have shown that the inclusion of geogrids in Portland cement concrete leads to a definitive improvement in the post-cracking behavior in terms of ductility, load capacity, and crack propagation control. However, the geogrid sheet caused partial discontinuity in the concrete section which in some cases lead to complete separation of the bottom concrete layer. Through a rigorous experimental program, this study aims to verifying and further enhancing the current knowledge regarding the behavior of geogrid-reinforced concrete elements as well as proposing a geogrid reinforcing configuration that is expected to maintain the continuity throughout the concrete section while achieving or improving the aforementioned benefits. A total of nine concrete beam specimens were prepared and tested under four-point bending. Testing results and observations re-confirmed the reinforcing benefits of geogrids and proved that the proposed configuration is very effective as it resulted in better post-cracking behavior while overcoming the concrete separation problem.

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