LONG-TERM DEFLECTION OF REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAMS WITH EMBEDDED STEEL SECTION

Abstract

This research investigates the long-term deflection of reinforced concrete beams with embedded steel section which is referred to as ‘composite beams’. An experimental program was carried out to record the long-term deflections and the creep factor of the composite beams and to compare it with that of the reinforced concrete beams. A nonlinear analysis program was used to validate the results of the experimental data, and then, a calibrated model was used to perform a parametric study to predict the creep behavior as well as the ultimate capacity of the composite beams. It was found that, to improve the creep factor, the embedded steel section could be in the compression side of the concrete section. On the other hand, to obtain good and optimum results for overall behavior of the composite beam, the embedded steel section could be in the middle of the cross-section of the beam.