Title: NEW TORSION EXPERIMENT ON LARGE-SIZE HOLLOW REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAMS

Author(s): Chyuan-Hwan Jeng, Sheng-Fu Peng, Hao-Jan Chiu, and Chih-Kun Hsiao

Publication: Structural Journal

Volume: 111

Issue: 6

Appears on pages(s): 1469-1480

Keywords: angle of twist; beam; cracking; hollow section; reinforced concrete; small deformation measurement; Softened Membrane Model for Torsion (SMMT); softened membrane model (SMM); torsion experiment

DOI: 10.14359/51687166

Date: 11/1/2014

Abstract:
Research on hollow reinforced concrete (RC) beams under torsion is relatively scarce, and experimental cracking twist data on RC beams tend to display significant variation. To expand and revise the experimental data in this field, a torsion experiment on large-sized hollow RC beam specimens was conducted using a new testing apparatus and a methodology capable of accurately measuring small twists around the cracking. This paper describes the experimental project and presents experimental results of nine specimens. The experimental results are compared with analytical results obtained using a recent torsion theory. The paper shows that the experimental torque-twist curves were in reasonable agreement with the analytical curves, and that a near-perfect match was found in their initial linear segments. The experimental strain and elongation responses also agreed with the analyses reasonably well in the pre-peak loading stages. However, the current analyses overestimated the cracking torques of five thinner-walled specimens.