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Behavior of reinforced concrete beams with circular opening in the flexural

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Article  in  International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology · January 2017

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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET)
Volume 8, Issue 5, May 2017, pp. 303–309, Article ID: IJCIET_08_05_034
Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/issues.asp?JType=IJCIET&VType=8&IType=5
ISSN Print: 0976-6308 and ISSN Online: 0976-6316

© IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed

BEHAVIOR OF REINFORCED CONCRETE

BEAMS WITH CIRCULAR OPENING IN THE
FLEXURAL ZONE STRENGTHENED BY STEEL
PIPES
Lalramnghaki Hauhnar
M.Tech Student, Department of Civil Engineering, SRM University,
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

R. Rajkumar
Assistant Professor (O.G), Department of Civil Engineering, SRM University,
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

N. Umamaheswari
Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, SRM University,
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

ABSTRACT
Providing an opening in beam develops cracks around the opening due to stress
concentration. In this paper, the study conducted on the behavior of RC beams with
circular opening in the flexural zone strengthened by steel pipes is given. In this study,
finite element analysis software ANSYS workbench 15.0, has been used. Totally four
beams were cast using M30 concrete and Fe415 steel. One control beam, one beam
with un strengthen circular openings of 100mmdiameter in flexural zone and two
beams with circular opening strengthened with steel pipes (2mm and 4mm) have been
used to conduct experimental study. The behavior of the strengthened beams is
analysed by comparing experimental and analytical results. The results show that
there is about 10% deviation occurs while comparing analytical and experimental
results.
Key words: ANSYS, Reinforced concrete (RC) beam, finite element method, load
deformation.
Cite this Article: Lalramnghaki Hauhnar, R. Rajkumar and N. Umamaheswari,
Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Beams with Circular Opening in the Flexural Zone
Strengthened by Steel Pipes. International Journal of Civil Engineering and
Technology, 8(5), 2017, pp. 303–309.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/issues.asp?JType=IJCIET&VType=8&IType=5

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 Lalramnghaki Hauhnar, R. Rajkumar and N. Umamaheswari

1. INTRODUCTION
Beam opening occurs quite often in practice to provide a conventional passage for pipes and
ducts for water supply system, sewage and electrical cables. The presence of an opening in
RC beam reduces its load carrying capacity and increases its service load deflection and
cracksin the building. The opening will transform simple beam behavior into more complex
behavior, as they include sudden change in the dimension of the beam cross section. The
ducts and pipes are usually placed underneath the soffit of the beam. The passage of these
ducts in the floor beam leads to reduction in dead space which can lead to a substantial
savings for a multistory building. An opening in beams leads to early diagonal cracking, and
the load at first cracks decreases with an increase in either the length or depth of opening(4).
The opening may be of different shape and size such as circular, rectangular, triangular and
even irregular shape. However circular and rectangular opening are the most common in
practice.
Rezwana Binte Hafiz, et.al (2014) [1] investigated the effect of opening on the behaviour
of R.C beam. The R.C beam model SOLID65, SOLID45 and LINK8 representing linear and
non linear behaviour of concrete, steel plate and renforcing bar were prepared . A circular
opening of diameter less than 44% has no effect on ultimate load capacity while a circular
opening of diameter more than 44% has reduces the ultimate load capacity upto 34.29%. It
was concluded that cicular opening has more strength than square opening with a difference
of 9.58% in ultimate load.
Nilesh H. Saksena, et al. (2013)[2] invetigated the effects of circular openings on the
behaviour of concrete beams without additional reinforcement in opening regions using FEM.
The circular opening with diameter less than 55% of the depth of the beam at L/2 distance
means at the centre span of the beam, has no effect on the ultimate load capacity. A circular
opening with diameter of 55% of depth at L/4 distance decreases the strength by at least 52%
compared to a solid beam with an opening of 45% of depth with a decrease in strength of
21%. A circular opening with diameter of 55% of depth at L/8 distance decreases the strength
by at least 62% compared to a solid beam with an opening of 45% of depth with a decrease in
strength of 31.82%. For opening at L/2 distance, effect on the load carrying capacity is very
small and hence central portion of the beam is best to provide an opening in the beam.
Vejay Rajeshwar V, et.al (2014) [3] investigated the behaviour of RC beam with circular
openings in the shear zone strengthened by steel plates. Four beams were tested;one control
beam with unstrengthened circular openings of 150mm diameter in the shear zone and two
beams strengtehened with circular steel plates connected using different numbers of shear
connectors (four and eight numbers of shear connectors). For circular openings (without
strengthening plates) the load carrying capacity was reduced.
Saeed Ahmed Al-Sheikh (2014) [7], investigated the flexural behaviour of RC beam with
a circular and rectangular opening with a different location studied in terms of ultimate failure
load, maximum deflection and failure mode . The test results show that ultimate load carring
capacity in shear zone with small opening at flexural zone, the maximum reduction in
ultimate load was about 1.5%. For large opening in flexural zone it decreased the ultimate
load to about 10% and in terms of deflection of the beam, it increased by 11% max more than
a control beam. In shear zone, the maximum reduction in ultimate load was about 2.5% and
for large opening , excessive cracks were found around the opening decreasing the ultimate
load by upto 64% max. In terms of deflection, it was 57% more than control beam.
Bengi Aykac et. al., (2013),[9] investigated the flexural behaviour of RC beams with
regular square or circular web and the test results it can beconcluded that the use of diagonal
reinforcement contributes to the flexural rigidity and a beam with openings. The failure of
beam due to Vierendeel action reduces the ductility and energy absorption capacity of the

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 Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Beams with Circular Opening in the Flexural Zone Strengthened
by Steel Pipes

beam and the reduction in rigidity due to provision of openings increases as tension
reinforcement ratio of the beam increases.

2. EXPERIMENTAL STUDY
Materials
M30 grade concrete was used for casting beams, 20mm coarse aggregate and fine sand as fine
aggregate. The reinforced beam consist of 3 nos. of 10 mm diameter bars in tension side and
2 nos. of 10 mm diameter bars in compression side with 8 mm diameter stirrups over the
length of beam at 150 mm spacing.

Specimens
The rectangular cross section of the beams was 150mm width, 300mm depth and 1800mm
length. The circular opening of 100mm diameter was formed using PVC and Galvanized Iron
pipes (GI pipe). It is shown in fig. 1.

Test setup
The beams were tested in the loading frame of 40 kN capacity under two point loading. The
load was applied gradually by means of hydraulic jack until the beam failed. The test set up is
shown in fig.2. The deflection in the mid span and center of the opening was recorded.
Testing arrangement of beam with opening is shown in fig.3.

Figure 1 Details of RC of beam with circular opening

The details of the specimens, control beam without opening, beam with unstrengthen
circular opening, beam with circular opening strengthened by steel pipe with 20mm and
40mm thick respectively, are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Details of beam specimen

S.No. Beam details Diameter of opening
(mm)
1 Control beam(CB) -
2 Unstrengthen Beam(USD) 100
3 Strengthened beam (SB1) 100
4 Strengthened beam (SB2) 100

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 Lalramnghaki Hauhnar, R. Rajkumar and N. Umamaheswari

Figure 2 Test setup-Control beam

Figure 3 Testing of beam with opening

3. RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS

The load-deformation, ultimate load and failure mode behavior of control beam without
openings, beams with unstrengthened circular openings and beam with openings strengthened
using steel pipes were observed. The test results are shown in Table 2.

Table 2 Test results

Beam designation Initial crack Ultimate failure Maximum deflection
load (kN) load (kN) (mm)
CB 44 168 9
USB 52 144 6.62
SB1 60 156 10.40
SB2 68 160 9.57
The percentage decrease in the ultimate load is ranging from 0 to 24%

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 Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Beams with Circular Opening in the Flexural Zone Strengthened
by Steel Pipes

4. ANALYTICAL INVESTIGATION
ANSYS software helps solving most complex problems. The ANSYS computer program is a
general purpose Finite Element Modeling Package for numerically solving a variety of
engineering problems. It is effectively used not only for structural analysis but also for a wide
range of phenomenon such as static (structural, creep, fatigue, fracture), dynamic (linear and
non-linear), vibration and noise in addition to manufacturing processes such as injection
molding and metal forming. It is available in modules. Each module is applicable to specific
problem.

4.1. Modeling
The models created for conventional beams and beam with opening using ANSYS software is
shown in Fig.4 and Fig.5 respectively.

Figure 4 Conventional beams Figure 5 Beam with opening

4.2. Deformation
Deformation of the beams are shown in Fig.6 and Fig.7

Figure 6 Deformation of conventional beam Figure 7 Deformation of beam with opening

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 Lalramnghaki Hauhnar, R. Rajkumar and N. Umamaheswari

5. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

5.1. Analytical Result
All the model were loaded symmetrically by two- point loading, where the positions of the
applied load were kept constant and the distance from the support to the end was taken as
100mm. The load vs deformation behavior obtained from analytical study is shown in Fig.8.
160
140
120
Load (kN)

100
CB
80
60 USB

40 SB1
20 SB2
0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Deformation (mm)

Figure 8 Load Vs Deformation

5.2. Experimental Results

The results are obtained by applying two point loading method and load vs deformation
behavior is shown in Fig. 9.
180
160
140
120
Load (kN)

100 CB
80 USB
60
SB1
40
20 SB2
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Deformation (mm)

Figure 9 Load Vs Deformation

5.3. Comparison of Analytical and Experimental Results

The comparison of results is shown in Table 3. It is observed that the experimental result
varies 18% from analytical results.

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 Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Beams with Circular Opening in the Flexural Zone Strengthened
by Steel Pipes

Table 3 Comparison of Analytical and experimental results

Experimental Analytical
Specimen Initial crack Ultimate load Deformation Ultimate load Deformation
(kN) (kN) (mm) (kN) (mm)
CB 40 168 9 150 7.09
USB 52 152 9.9 134 6.02
SB1 60 156 7.56 140 7.12
SB2 68 160 9.57 148 9.11

6. CONCLUSION
From the results the following conclusions were drawn
 There is 10.7% increment in load carrying capacity of conventional beam by comparing
experimental and analytical result.
 By comparing experimental and analytical result there is an increment of 6.9% in load
carrying capacity for unstrengthening beam.
 By increasing the thickness of galvanized iron pipe the ultimate load carrying capacity of the
beam increases.
 There is a deviation of 10% in an ultimate load carrying capacity from analytical to
experimental results.
 There was a minimum deformation in unstrengthened beam as compared to other
corresponding specimen.

REFERENCES
[1] Rezwana Binte Hafiz, et al., (2014) “Effects of Opening of Reinforced concrete beams ” ,
IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Vol. 11, Issue 2 Ver VII ,Mar-April
2014, PP 52-61S.
[2] Nilesh H.Saksena,et al.,(2013) “Effect of circular openings on the behaviour of concrete
beams without additional reinforcement in opening region using FEM method”, Saksena
et al., International Journal in Advanced Engineering Technology, V .4,Issue II,April-
June,2013/40-42.
[3] Vejay Rajeshwar V, et al., (2014) “Behaviour of RC beams with circular opening in the
shear zone strengthened by steel plates”.
[4] Mansur, M.A. (1998). “Effect of openings on the behaviour and strength of R/C beams in
shear”. Cement and concrete Composite, Elsevier Science Ltd., Vol.20, No.6, 477-486.
[5] Byung Hwan Oh, et al.,(2003)“Static and fatigue of RC beams strengthened with steel
plates for flexural” Journal of Structural engineering, Vol.129, No. 4, April 1, 2003.
[6] M.A Mansur; “Design of reinforced concrete beams with web openings”, Proceedings of
the 6th Asia pacific Structural Engineering and Construction Conference (APSEC 2006),5-
6 September 2006, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
[7] Saeed Ahmeed Al-Sheikh, “Flexural behaviour of RC beams with opening”, Concrete
Research Letters, V .5 (2),June 2014.
[8] A.Ahmed et. al., (2012), “Reinforced concrete beams with web openings, A state of the
art review”, Materials and Design 40, pp 90-102.
[9] Bengi Aykac et. al., (2012), “Flexural behaviour of RC beams with regular square or
circular web”, Engineering Structures 56 (2013) 2165-2174.

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