Behaviours of hybrid deep beams with RPC Layers in the tension region

This paper presents an experimental study that included casting and testing six reinforced concrete simply supported deep beams under two-point loads. Two of these, with homogenous cross-sections, were made using normal strength concrete (NSC) only. The other four deep beams of hybrid cross-sections were cast using reactive powder concrete (RPC) in the tension layer and normal strength concrete (NSC) in the compression layer. Experimental results showed that the partial use of RPC noticeably increased both the first cracking load and ultimate load. The ultimate load was found to be increased further as the thickness of the RPC layer increased. The behaviours in terms of load-deflection also became stiffer as the shear span to overall depth ratio (a/h) decreased. (paper)