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Abstract
This paper investigated the flexural behaviour of 12 reinforced concrete (RC) beams made of
phyllite coarse aggregates produced as by-product of underground gold mining activity. The
beams were tested to failure under four point tests. Collapse of the beams which were
adequately designed against shear failure occurred mostly through either flexural-shear
failure and/or diagonal tension failure. The experimental failure loads averaged
approximately 115% of the theoretical failure loads. It was observed that the beams
developed early shear cracks and higher flexural crack widths than allowable at service
loads. Deflections compared reasonably well with the design code requirement but
displacement ductility was low. It is recommended that British Standard (BS) 8110 design
concrete shear stress values be multiplied by 0.8 to assure that the predicted shear capacity
of phyllite concrete would be low and reasonable as compared to flexural capacity. In that
case, BS 8110 can be used to provide adequate load factor against flexural failure for underreinforced RC beams made of phyllite coarse aggregates.
1. Introduction
Coarse aggregate is a major component of concrete as it takes a high percentage of either the mass or
volume of concrete based on any standard mix design. The incidence of increasing rate of natural
resource depletion coupled with the high cost associated with some of the traditionally used
aggregates calls for the use of new, abundant and cheap materials. This has led to work by several
researchers on either the mechanical properties of plain concrete or the bending/shear strengths of
beams made from non-traditional aggregate sources.
Waste aggregates obtained from four granite pits in Turkey were used to produce concrete. Physical
and chemical properties of the aggregates were found to be adequate when compared with code
standards. Tests on concrete made from the granite waste aggregates indicated that the results of
compressive strength, split-ting tensile strength, static modulus of elasticity, water absorption rate and
1
Other researchers have also used non-conventional aggregates in characterizing concrete beam
behaviour. A comparative study of concrete properties using coconut shell and palm kernel shell as
substitutes for conventional coarse aggregates showed that at least 30% cost reduction could be
achieved for similar compressive strength of conventional concrete [6]. Others [7] showed that the
structural bond properties of lightweight concrete incorporating solid waste oil palm shells (OPS) as
coarse aggregates was much higher than the theoretical bond strength as stipulated by codes of
practice. The durability performance of OPS concrete revealed that its water absorption and water
permeability were also comparable to other lightweight concretes. Elsewhere, the flexural behaviour
of 6 under-reinforced OPS concrete beams were investigated [8]. The investigations revealed that the
flexural behaviour of OPS concrete beams compared well with that of beams made from other
lightweight aggregates and experimental results compared reasonably well with codes of practice. As
a further encouragement to regional building authorities in Singapore, the overall flexural response of
lightweight RC beams made from expanded clay aggregates compared well with those of
conventional normal weight concrete beams [9]. Use has also been made of sandstone aggregates to
produce high-performance reinforced concrete (HPC) beams [10] which exhibited flexural strengths
higher than predicted ultimate moment capacities. Due to lower stiffness of sand-stone aggregates, the
2
The use of granite and sandstone as coarse aggregates is very popular with the Ghanaian
construction industry, yet the sources of these materials are facing the problem of depletion and
substitute for granite as coarse aggregate has been a challenge whereas conservation of natural
resources is very essential in any modern development. Phyllites are foliated rocks consisting of very
fine-grained phyllosilicates and quartz. The abundance of fine-grained phyllosilicates gives them a
soft feel and the existence of preferential cleavage gives them the property of easily breaking up into
thin slabs [11]. Work has been done on the characterization of phyllite rocks by several researchers.
The characterization is necessary in evaluating the suitability of using phyllite in a wide range of
earthen construction works such as liners (in waterproofing roofs and water reservoirs), road
subgrades, embankments and core material in zoned dams. An experimental programme was carried
out to characterize the physical, micro-structural and geotechnical properties of clay phyllites. Despite
the presence of active clay minerals, the material exhibited good compaction properties and,
consequently, low water permeability plus a stiff response on loading [12]. The presence of phyllites
has been reported in several countries such as Spain [12], Venezuela [13], south western Germany and
eastern France [14] and the Himalayan region [15]. In Ghana, phyllite rocks are obtained as a byproduct of underground mining activity.
1.1. Aims, scope and significance of research
Since aggregate use and cost of concrete production is related to availability and haulage distance,
the use of phyllite aggregates is one of such attempt to substitute for crushed granite as coarse
aggregates in concrete production. The continuous accumulation of phyllite aggregates is an
environmental issue if no use is found for this waste material. Environmental regulations have also
be-come more stringent, causing waste to become increasingly expensive to dispose. Subsequently,
exploitation of the waste material as sustainable building material in the construction industry helps
preserve the natural resources such as sources of coarse aggregates. Earlier work [16] on plain phyllite
concrete cubes and modulus of rupture beams made from phyllite aggregates obtained from mining
waste showed low compressive and bending strengths as compared to those of granite aggregate
concrete. This was probably because the flakiness and elongation properties coupled with reactive
materials in phyllite aggregates affect the water absorption and bond characteristics of its concrete.
This results in the high water absorption of the phyllite aggregates which could affect the strength
properties of the plain concrete. The phyllite aggregates in concrete required more water than
expected since the increased surface area by virtue of their flaky and elongated nature increased the
3
In order to address these limitations, a comprehensive research program is being undertaken at the
Department of Civil Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana.
This paper deals with the overall flexural response of twelve reinforced concrete beams made from
phyllite aggregates. The choice of beam characteristics including concrete mix ratio were made to
reflect local construction practices. The significance of this study is to increase knowledge of the
material behaviour and therefore increase the utilization of the aggregates produced as waste from
underground mining activity.
2. Experimental program
Twelve (12) beams of design mix ratio 1:1.5:3 (cement: sand: coarse aggregates) and watercement
ratio of 0.5 were cast for experimental work. All beams are regular in cross-section, 110 mm wide and
225 mm in overall depth. Four different beam lengths (1400 mm, 1700 mm, 2000 mm and 2400 mm)
were used. Each length category of beam consisted of three different mild steel tension reinforcement
ratios of 1% (2R12 bars), 1.5% (3R12 bars) and 2% (4R12 bars). The 2% tension reinforcement
beams were treated as singly reinforced but with nominal hanger bars (2R6) to be more representative
of the practical situation whilst the top bars in the other beams contributed to flexural compression
capacity. The choice of beam characteristics was done to give adequate coverage of the effects of
under-reinforced, over-reinforced and spandepth ratios on the flexural behaviour of reinforced
concrete beams made from phyllite aggregates. Transverse reinforcement consisting of R6 bars bent
into closed stirrups was used in clear concrete cover of 15 mm on all sides of the beams cross-section.
All the beams had the same spacing of stirrups of 200 mm in both the shear and flexural zones
sufficient enough to ensure flexural failure prior to any shearing stress. Companion concrete cubes
(100 _ 100 _ 100 mm) and modulus of rupture beams (100 _ 100 _ 500 mm) were cast and cured in
water to determine the compressive and bending strengths of the plain concrete respectively. The
specimen descriptions are provided in Table 1 and Fig. 1.
28 days
28 days
Percentage
Concrete
Concrete
tension
compressive
flexural
reinforcement
strength,
strength,
(%)
fcu (N/mm2) ft (N/mm2)
1.0
23.25
2.5
1.5
23.75
3.4
2.0
23.65
4.0
1.0
23.25
2.5
1.5
23.75
3.4
2.0
23.65
4.0
1.0
23.25
2.5
Span/eff.
depth
ratio
(le/d)
10.5
Shear
spacing
(mm)
200
B2
10.5
200
B3
10.5
200
B4
8.9
200
B5
8.9
200
B6
8.9
200
B7
7.5
200
B8
7.5
200
1.5
23.75
3.4
B9
7.5
200
2.0
23.65
4.0
B10
6.0
200
1.0
23.25
2.5
B11
6.0
200
1.5
23.75
3.4
B12
6.0
200
2.0
23.65
4.0
BEAM
No.
BXDXL
B1
(a)
(b)
Fig.2. (a) Schematic sketch of experimental set-up. (b) Experimental set-up with instrumentation.
All the beams (B1B12) were cast and placed in wooden moulds and compacted with a shutter
vibrator. Curing was done using hessian mat laid on the beams in the atmosphere and watered
regularly. Beams were left to cure for 28 days after which they were tested. The beams were tested as
simply supported at the ends on steel beams that form part of a rigid steel frame. All the beams were
tested to failure under four point bending test as shown in Fig. 2a and b which ensured a constant
moment in the central region of the beam span assuming the self-weight of the beam is negligible.
Beam deflections at mid-span for a steady loading rate of 0.2kN/s were taken with the aid of a dial
gauge fixed at the bottom of each beam. Crack development on the concrete beam surface was closely
monitored to ascertain first flexural and shear cracks, and crack width at tension steel level. Crack
widths were measured at the load increments using a crack microscope of optical magnification X10
and reading to 0.02 mm. Crack patterns were marked on the beams after failure.
where ft denotes the modulus of rupture of the concrete, and b and h the width and overall depth of
beam respectively. For a simply supported beam that is subjected to four-point bending test, the
ultimate flexural load Pult is given by:
(2)
where Mult denotes the ultimate moment of resistance of the beam and L is the span of the beam.
In accordance with British Standard (BS) 8110 [17] method, the theoretical shear strength of the
beams was calculated by considering contributions from the concrete section, the tension
reinforcement and the steel stirrups. In this case, the design shear strength V of the beam is given by:
(3)
where Vc which is the design concrete shear force carried by un-cracked concrete in compression and
the dowel action of the longitudinal reinforcement whilst Vs is the shear force carried by the steel
stirrups crossed by the diagonal crack.
Phyllite Aggregates
2.72
1.80
9.80
18.64
255.75
28.00
25.00
17.50
70
60
60
B3
B5
B2
B6
50
Load (KN)
Load (KN)
50
40
B1
30
40
30
20
20
10
10
B4
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
10
(a)
(b)
100
80
70
90
B8
B11
B12
80
60
B7
70
B9
Load (KN)
Load (KN)
50
40
30
B10
60
50
40
30
20
20
10
10
0
0
10
Midspan Deflection(mm)
Midspan Deflection(mm)
(c)
(d)
Fig. 3 Load-deflection curves of test beams
The under-reinforced beams with the highest (%) tension reinforcement (i.e. 1.5%) in all the ranges of
span to depth ratios were expected to produce the largest deflections at failure as a result of yielding
of tension steel and its associated increase in post-yield deflection. This was the case in Fig. 3b and c
where the ultimate deflections of B5 and B8 were higher than the deflections of their corresponding
1% and 2% beams (B4, B6, B7 and B9). However, this expectation is valid providing the mode of
failure of the beam is by yielding of tension reinforcement. In some cases of flexural-shear and
diagonal tension failure mode depending on the predominant mode of failure, under-reinforced beams
may not produce the largest deflection. This explains why in Fig. 3a and d, the over-rein-forced beams
B3 and B12 produced ultimate deflections higher than those of corresponding under-reinforced beams
(B1, B2, B10, and B11).
10
Theoretical flexural
Strength, P'ult (kN)
Based
Based
on
on
Steel
Concrete
yielding crushing
First
flexural
crack,
First
shear
crack
Failure
load,
Pcr
Ps
Pult
B1
18
22
36
30.19*
B2
16
30
52
B3
14
30
B4
16
B5
Beam
No.
Pcr/Pult
Pult/P'ult
Ps/Pult
42.00
0.50
1.19
0.61
45.28*
52.50
0.31
1.15
0.58
60
60.38
42.72*
0.23
1.40
0.50
24
40
35.30*
49.10
0.40
1.13
0.52
18
24
62
52.95*
61.38
0.29
1.17
0.39
B6
16
28
52
70.59
49.95*
0.31
1.04
0.54
B7
18
36
60
44.12*
61.38
0.30
1.35
0.60
B8
18
36
70
66.18*
76.73
0.26
1.05
0.51
B9
14
30
54
88.24
62.44*
0.26
0.86
0.56
B10
22
38
62
50.98*
70.93
0.35
1.21
0.61
B11
22
44
90
76.48*
88.66
0.24
1.17
0.49
B12
20
40
82
101.97
72.15*
0.24
1.13
0.49
0.31
1.15
0.53
Average
*Governing theoretical flexural load according to BS8110
B1
B2
B3
B4
B5
B6
B7
B8
B9
B10
B11
B12
Average
Shear
span/effective
depth ratio
3.80
3.80
3.80
3.25
3.25
3.25
2.60
2.60
2.60
2.25
2.25
2.25
0.67
0.79
0.71
0.72
0.63
0.67
1.09
0.95
0.71
1.15
1.16
0.95
0.85
0.49
0.66
0.73
0.54
0.79
0.63
0.82
0.89
0.66
0.85
1.15
1.00
0.77
11
Fig. 4 illustrates the relationship between the span to effective depth ratios and the experimental
failure loads. It was expected that for a particular percentage of tension reinforcement, the
experimental failure loads increased as the span to effective depth ratio (L/d) decreased. Since the
effective depth was kept constant for all the beams, it implies that as the span increased, design
moment was expected to increase to cause failure.
100
90
80
70
60
1%
50
1.5%
40
2%
30
20
10
0
10.5
8.9
7.5
Span to effective depth ratio
Fig.4 Relationship between span to effective depth ratios and ultimate loads
Generally, for the different L/d ratios, beams with 1.5% tension reinforcement gave optimum
strength with the exception of the L/d ratio of 10.5 where beam B3 with 2% reinforcement recorded
the highest strength. For the same span to effective depth ratios B1, B4, B7 and B10 failed at lower
loads than corresponding B2, B5, B8 and B11. However, beams B6, B9 and B12 which all had 2%
tension reinforcements failed at lower failure loads than their corresponding 1.5% tension
reinforcement beams (B5, B8 and B11). This could be explained by the fact that B6, B9 and B12 were
12
Table 5
Service
load,
(kN)
Experimental
service
deflection,
Es(mm)
BS8110
limit
Span/ 250
Bs(mm)
Es/ BS
B1
B2
B3
B4
B5
B6
B7
B8
B9
B10
B11
B12
21.17
30.58
35.29
23.50
36.47
30.58
35.29
41.17
31.76
36.47
52.94
48.23
4.38
5.32
7.60
3.35
4.25
3.78
3.91
3.85
3.09
2.60
2.30
3.30
8.40
8.40
8.40
7.20
7.20
7.20
6.00
6.00
6.00
5.20
5.20
5.20
0.52
0.63
0.90
0.47
0.59
0.53
0.65
0.64
0.52
0.50
0.45
0.64
The results indicate that the theoretical deflection values com-pared reasonably well with the
experimental values. Moreover, all the beams satisfied the code requirement. The ratio of Es/ BS
varied from 47% to 90% which is an indication that the BS 8110 predicts deflection satisfactorily in
RC beams made from phyllite aggregates. It is worthy of note that the code requirement includes long
term effects such as creep and shrinkage. Since the experimental results were obtained only under
short term, there is the need to investigate the creep and shrinkage effect on the service deflections. It
appeared that the experimental service deflection to the code limit for deflection was not significantly
influenced by the different tension reinforcement ratios that were considered.
13
Beams
No.
B1
B2
B3
B4
B5
B6
B7
B8
B9
B10
B11
B12
Table 6
Deflection ductility ratios of beams
Yield Stage
Ultimate Stage
Displacement
Load
(kN)
30
45
50
35
53
48
44
55
45
50
74
72
Deflection,
y (mm)
6.00
7.35
10.00
5.00
5.50
5.00
4.00
5.00
4.50
3.00
2.45
4.00
Load
(kN)
36
52
60
40
62
52
60
70
54
62
90
82
It was observed that keeping other parameters constant, ultimate displacement increased with
increasing span/ effective depth ratio. The displacement ductility ratios ranged from 1.15 to 1.82
which indicates low ductility behaviour. Contrary to observation by other researchers [810,21,22]
that a decrease in tensile reinforcement improved ductility, decreasing or increasing tensile
reinforcement in this case did not seem to have any notice-able influence on ductility. In general, high
ductility ratios indicate that a structural member is capable of undergoing large deflections prior to
failure. Structural members of ductility ratio between 3 and 5 are deemed to be of adequate ductility
and can be considered for structural members subjected to large displacements such as sudden forces
caused by earthquakes [21,22]. Factors that contribute to good ductility behaviour of aggregates are
toughness and good shock absorbance nature [8,16] indicated by the aggregate crushing value (ACV)
and aggregate impact value (AIV) which were both deemed adequate in Table 2. Furthermore, the
other condition necessary for good ductility behaviour of RC beams is the per cent elongation [23] of
the reinforcing steel rods which was greater than the minimum requirement of 12%. The reason for
the low ductility behaviour exhibited by all the beams could be as a result of non-ductile failure
14
15
B3
40
B2
B1
20
0
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
Crack width (mm)
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
(a)
80
Load (KN)
60
B5
B6
B4
40
20
0
0
0.3
0.6
0.9
1.2
Crack width (mm)
1.5
1.8
2.1
(b)
80
Load (KN)
60
B9
B8
B7
40
20
0
0
0.3
0.6
0.9
Crack width (mm)
1.2
1.5
1.8
(c)
100
Load (KN)
80
B12
60
B10
B11
40
20
0
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
Crack width (mm)
0.8
(d)
Beams with 1% tension reinforcement ratio recorded very low average crack widths with an average
value of 0.18 mm. This could be explained by the fact that, these beams failed at small loads and
underwent very small deflections before failure. The average crack width at service load in the 1.5%
and 2% tension reinforcement beams was 0.32 mm which is greater than the code limit of 0.3 mm.
Therefore eight (8) of the twelve (12) beams did not satisfy the BS 8110 requirement for maximum
crack width limit. Durability problems may be encountered in such beams over time.
16
Table 8
Failure modes
Actual
B1
Steel yielding
Flexural-shear
B2
Steel yielding
Flexural-shear/Diagonal tension
B3
Concrete crushing
Flexural-shear/Diagonal tension
B4
Steel yielding
Flexural-shear
B5
Steel yielding
Flexural-shear/Diagonal tension
B6
Concrete crushing
Diagonal tension
B7
Steel yielding
Flexural-shear/Diagonal tension
B8
Steel yielding
Flexural-shear/Diagonal tension
B9
Concrete crushing
Flexural-shear/Diagonal tension
B10
Steel yielding
Flexural-shear/Diagonal tension
B11
Steel yielding
Flexural-shear/Diagonal tension
B12
Concrete crushing
Flexural-shear/Diagonal tension
17
18
The type of aggregate also affects the shear strength mainly through its effect on aggregate-interlock
capacity [2426]. In this experimental study, the concrete beams made from phyllite aggregates
developed early shear cracks and failed prematurely in shear as observed by others in the study of
beams made of recycled concrete aggregates [3]. This could be attributed to the flaky nature of the
phyllite aggregates which appears to affect the effective mobilization of the aggregate interlock
contribution to shear capacity of the phyllite concrete.
Notwithstanding the fact that the experimental failure loads averaged 77% of the theoretical shear
capacity according to BS 8110 provisions, most of the beams failed in shear. More so, even though
the phyllite aggregate concrete is not lightweight concrete, the first diagonal shear crack in the beams
occurred at 0.85Vc (Table 4). On the evidence of the experimental/theoretical failure loads (Tables 3
and 4) and failure modes/crack configuration (Table 8 and Fig. 6), it is recommended that the code of
practice design shear stress values should be multiplied by 0.8 to assure that the predicted shear
capacity would be low and reasonable as com-pared to flexural capacity.
5. Conclusions
The experiment investigated the flexural behaviour of twelve RC beams made of phyllite aggregates
all of which were designed with adequate shear resistance as compared to flexural capacity. The
ultimate failure loads increased as the span to effective depth ratio decrease. The RC beams behaved
similarly as other RC beams made of other conventional aggregates materials with respect to load
deflection behaviour. Deflections compared reasonably well with BS 8110 requirements. However,
the average crack widths under service loads were greater than the limit permitted by the code
indicating that the beams may encounter durability problems with time. Crack development and
19
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