LAUSR

This paper reports the flexural behaviour of conventional reinforced concrete beams with Slurry Infiltrated Fibrous Concrete (SIFCON) at various locations in the beam. Composite beams are cast with a layer of SIFCON at various locations of the conventional RC beam. Beams made entirely with RC, Fibre Reinforced Concrete (FRC) and SIFCON are also investigated for comparison. A total number of twenty one specimens corresponding to seven test series are cast and tested under two point flexural forward cyclic loading system. The parameters like load carrying capacity, stiffness degradation, ductility and energy absorption capacity are assessed. The concrete mix for RC beams are designed to obtain a concrete grade of M30. For SIFCON, the fibre volume fraction is 9%. The steel fibers used in the study are round crimped fibers having 0.5 mm diameter and aspect ratio of 60. Results indicate that the use of SIFCON in conventional RC beams have enhanced the cracking behavior in terms of considerable increase in the first crack load and in the formation of larger number of finer cracks. The ultimate load carrying capacity, stiffness, ductility and energy absorption capacity are increased to a greater extent for composite beams compared with that of conventional RC beams.