Feasibility of Cu–Al–Mn superelastic alloy bars as reinforcement elements in concrete beams

Experimental and numerical works are reported to assess the cyclic response of concrete beams reinforced with superelastic alloy (SEA) bars. The feasibility of newly developed Cu–Al–Mn SEA bars, characterized by large recovery strain, low material cost and high machinability, is examined as partial replacements for conventional steel bars, in order to reduce residual cracks in structures during and after intense earthquakes. Four-point reverse cyclic bending tests were done on one-third scale concrete beams comprising three different types of specimens—conventional steel reinforced concrete, SEA reinforced concrete and SEA reinforced concrete (RC) with pre-tensioning. The results showed that SEA reinforced concrete beams demonstrated strong recentering capability and significant enhancement in crack recovery capacity, in comparison to steel reinforced beams. Furthermore, corresponding finite element models were generated to simulate the experimental observations. Both the experimental observations and finite element computations illustrated the superiority of SEA bars to conventional steel bars in providing RC beam specimens with recentering and crack recovery capabilities. (paper)