PROJECT -

Three-point bending test has been conducted on a reinforced concrete beam shown in Figure 1 and the load-deflection response shown in Figure 2 was obtained.

Table 1: Cross sectional details and material properties used in the test beam

Table 2: Material properties

Compressive strength: 22.6 MPa.

The experimental data are taken from Vecchio et al, 2004. "Experimental and Analytical Re-examination of Classic Concrete Beam Tests," ASCE J. of Struct. Engrg., Vol. 130, No. 3, pp. 460-469.

In this project, your tasks are:

(1) To compare the experimental data (load capacity) with EC2 predictions. In doing so, you need to calculate the shear and flexural capacities of the beam using EC2 design code equations. You can assume that all partial safety factors are 1.0.

(2) Use Response 2000 software to predict the full load-deflection response and crack pattern at failure. Compare these predictions with the laboratory test data and the design code predictions you have done in (1).

Once you have completed (1) and (2), prepare a report summarizing your findings. The report should be self-contained, covering experimental data and relevant information (e.g. test configuration, materials, test methods, test results etc) and analysis results (from (1) and (2)). It should be less than 15 pages in total. There is no strict framework, but you may find the following useful: abstract, background and objectives, details of the experiment, analysis results and discussion, and finally conclusions.