<p> Shear beams and shear walls were constructed using varying amounts of steel fibers and rubber to determine the effect of these constituents on concrete when subject to shear loads and reversed cyclic loadings. 22 concrete beams were tested using mixes with differing amounts of fibers and rubber. The beams were designed to fail in shear by applying a single downward point load at midspan using a MTS Universal Testing Machine. Using the recorded load and displacement data the behavior of each beam and the shear strength contribution for each mix were determined. For all mixes that included fibers and/or rubber the shear strengths increased 12% to 56% in comparison to the plain concrete mixes. Four concrete walls were also tested using four of the 22 beam mixes. The four selected mixes were chosen based on the comparable compressive strengths and mix constituents. The walls were designed to fail in shear by applying a lateral load to a top block cast on top of the shear wall. The walls were tested on a modular strong-block test system within a rigid steel frame so that the load could be applied by a hydraulic actuator. During testing, the displacement at 10 selected locations, the loads placed on the walls at each displacement, and the behavior were recorded and analyzed. The walls containing rubber experienced lower strengths, a brittle failure with severe spalling and damage, and dissipated a low amount of energy. The walls containing fibers exhibited strain hardening characteristics leading to a ductile failure mode, higher strengths, and little web damage. Using the findings from this study, it can be concluded that both fibers and rubber can be used to increase shear strength but only fibers were found to be a viable option for application in walls subject to reverse cyclic loadings.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10002460 |
| Date | 28 January 2016 |
| Creators | Broussard, Dylan W. |
| Publisher | University of Louisiana at Lafayette |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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