Flexural and Shear Response of One-Part Alkali-Activated Reinforced Concrete Beams

This paper presents a preliminary investigation into the structural response of one-part alkali activated reinforced concrete beams exhibiting two different modes of failure (shear and flexure). To this end, two mixes of one-part alkali activated beams were prepared and cured for 28 days at ambient temperatures to monitor the strength development. Two alkali-activated beams with differing reinforcement layout were also tested to assess their behavioural responses under loading. The response of these beams was compared with a reinforced concrete beam manufactured with ordinary Portland cement concrete. In this paper, the load-deformation response, mode of failure, and crack pattern of each beam are presented and compared with predictions from nonlinear finite element analysis. The results highlighted that the behaviours of the alkali-activated beams were practically similar to those of ordinary reinforced concrete beam. It was found that concrete shrinkage has a dominant influence on the stiffness and shear capacity of alkali-activated beams.