A novel flexural strain measurement setup for RC beam testing

Metin Katlava, Paki Turgutb, Kazim Turkb*

a
Bitlis Eren University, Vocational School of Technical Sciences, Bitlis, Türkiye

b
Inonu University, Engineering Faculty, Department of Civil Engineering, Malatya, Türkiye

Abstract

One of the most important parameters measured in the tests at laboratory–scale of RC beams
is the flexural strains required to investigate the behavior and develop a model. Flexural
strains measured precisely are of great importance both in the correct interpretation of the
behavior of RC beam tested and in the development of models close to the real behavior. In
the literature it has been observed that there are a lot of problems encountered in the
measurement of flexural strains. In this study, a flexural strain measurement setup (FSMS) is
designed, manufactured and tested on RC beam to eliminate these problems. In addition to
being cost effective and not labour intensive, FSMS developed can quickly, easily and more
accurately measure the flexural strains of RC beams. It also can easily measure the flexure
strains in RC beams with various cross-sectional shapes such as rectangular, triangular,
trapezoidal, T, circular, etc. FSMS will certainly provide more accurate data to interpret the
behavior of RC beams and to develop a model for RC beams or to check the accuracy of new
strain measuring methods. Also, it will provide a great convenience to researchers interested
in measuring flexural strains of RC beams in laboratory–scale.

Keywords: RC beam, Flexural strain, LVDT, Strain gauge, Measurement, Setup

1. Introduction

Measurement is an inherent element in laboratory works in civil engineering. The

measurement of flexural strains in reinforced concrete (RC) beams is a necessity because
these strains give valuable information related to the behavior of RC beams in research.
Crushing of concrete at the compression zone and, cracking of the concrete and yielding of
rebar at the tension zone in RC beams are determined by using these strains measured. Apart
from these, the moment–curvature relationship and energy absorption ability of RC beams
are also calculated by using these strains obtained from the experimental works. Therefore,

*
Corresponding author: kazim.turk@inonu.edu.tr
the determination of these values mentioned above depends on an accuracy and sensitive
measurement of these strains on the RC beams tested.

The strain measurements in the laboratory–scale tests of RC beams can be conducted by

using many tools. There are also numerous experimental techniques to measure the strains in
RC beams. The linear variable differential transducers (LVDTs) and SGs (SGs) have been
used to measure strains in the laboratory tests of metal and RC beams for a long time. Fiber
optic sensors, digital image correlation techniques, smart concrete sensors, smart cement–
based sensors and optical grid methods are also new techniques and they are under
development [1]. The capabilities of their strain measurement are still in the testing phase in
the both laboratory works and structure health monitoring for RC beams. All of these strain
measurement techniques mentioned above have advantages and disadvantages depending on
where they are used.

To measure strains in RC beams, the SGs and LVDTs have been preferred because their
measurement is more accurate and sensitive [2]. The SGs are piezoresistive sensors. They are
manufactured from metallic or semiconductor materials and they measure the strains in any
direction or sense in a specific point of RC beams. An electrical resistance SG is a classic
device used to precisely measure strain. The SGs, which work under the effect of Hooke’s
law, has micro–measurement ability. This means that the deformation of an elastic material is
directly proportional to the applied force [3]. The installation of SG on RC beam is very
important. The surface of RC beam should be smooth and clean for good adhesion.
Otherwise, the incorrect measurements of strains can be obtained or adhesive of SGs can be
broken during the test stage [4]. The SG measures the strain at a single location. In case of
different deformations along the rebar in RC beam, a lot of SGs must be glued sequentially to
the rebar but it is uncommon. This is also an expensive and labour–intensive process, which
limits the number of experiments available. Thus, a more practical method is needed to obtain
the strain measurements of the rebar in RC beam. Another issue is that RC beams usually
exhibit the typical flexural failure, which is characterized by obvious crushing and spalling of
concrete in the compression zone. In this case, the SGs in this zone are damaged and the
measuring operation of strains can stop. If RC beams have non–uniform concrete, the correct
measurement of strains can be very difficult. Hence, similar to the case of measuring the
strains in the rebar mentioned above, it is needed a lot of SGs in the compression region for
measuring strains. LVDT is a classical device used for deflection and deformation
measurements. It is especially used to measure the deflection at the midpoint of RC beams
and the deformation in the tensile zone. The curvature of RC beams subjected to bending is
calculated by using LVDT measurements in the compression and tension zone. There are
LVDTs having the various gage lengths. When the length of pure flexure region of RC beams
is long, it is needed to be installed several LVDTs along the length of this region. The dowels
or epoxy with connecter are used to install LVDTs on RC beam. Therefore, the installation of
LVDT on RC beams is a difficult and time–consuming process. Also, RC beams are slightly
damaged during the installation process of LVDTs due to the dowel holes drilled on the RC
beams. In the literature, some tests related to RC beams subjected to bending using a SG or
LVDT to measure strain are given. Besides, the drawbacks of installing SGs or LVDTs on
RC beams are discussed below.

Huang et al. [5] investigated the fatigue behaviour of ultra-high toughness cementitious
composite (UHTCCs) beams. In Fig. 1 the strains of the longitudinal rebar were measured by
SGs glued to the rebar, while the strains of the concrete at the same level as the longitudinal
rebar were measured by LVDTs. LVDTs were mounted on plastic attachments which were
glued on concrete by epoxy. Also, the strain gage was glued on the top face of RC beam.
According to the test results, it was found that the strains of rebar were similar to those of
concrete before reaching the yield point of rebar. After that point, the strains of rebar and
concrete were roughly similar in UHTCCs. This indicated that the bond between the rebar
and concrete was good under the static loading. Authors noted that some of the SGs were not
working when the strain value was relatively large. They also pointed out that the bottom
LVDTs dropped during fatigue tests because of glue breakage, and the top SG was not stable.
For this reason, the corresponding strains could not be obtained and strain profiles of some
beams were not given in their work.

Fig. 1. LVDTs mounted on plastic attachments glued on concrete by epoxy

Dancygier and Savir [6] investigated the flexural behaviour of high strength fiber reinforced
concrete having low longitudinal reinforcement ratio at tension zone. In their work, the
compressive strain at the top of RC beam in the mid–span was measured by using SGs.
LVDTs were mounted to measure the strains at the bottom, middle and top levels of the front
and behind sides of the RC beam. As seen in Fig. 2.a and b, LVDTs are attached to both sides
of RC beam using dowels inserted into the holes drilled on the beam.

a) Concrete cracking through dowel hole b) Insufficient gauge length of LVDTs

Fig. 2. Limitations of strain measurement with LVDT

Dancygier and Berkover [7] also investigated the cracking localization and the reduction of
ductility in fiber reinforced concrete beams having low longitudinal reinforcement ratio at
tension zone. Strain measurements based on Euler-Bernoulli beam theory were made to
measure the compressive and tensile strains at the top and bottom levels to calculate the
curvature for each section. In their works, the longitudinal strains at the top face of RC beams
were measured by using seven SGs along the pure bending zone (Fig. 3). The longitudinal
strains at the bottom face of RC beams were also measured by using seven LVDTs along the
pure bending zone for one side only, and a total of fourteen LVDTs for both side. Besides,
two of the fourteen LVDTs were located parallel to the location of the longitudinal tension
rebar on both side of the cross section of RC beam at mid–span. In addition, the tensile strain
on the rebar was also measured by using SGs glued to the rebar at the same level as the two
LVDTs. It was noted that the strains obtained from two LVDTs at both sides of RC beam and
the SGs glued on the tension rebar were similar. It can be emphasized from here that LVDTs
could also be used to check whether the rebar reached the yield point. In this work, a lot of
SGs and LVDTs were used to measure strains in compression and tension zones. Moreover,
there were a lot of dowel holes drilled on the both side of RC beams.
 Fig. 3. Use of multiple LVDTs to measure strain at the bottom of RC beam

Kodur et al. [8] made an experimental work on the analysis of flexural and shear resistance of
ultrahigh performance fiber reinforced concrete beams without stirrups. As shown in Fig. 4,
the SGs were glued on the front and behind faces of beams using epoxy along the depth of
critical section at mid–span after the concrete surface was ground. The SGs were also glued
on the tensile rebar at the mid-span of the beams. In addition to the SGs, the four LVDTs
were also mounted on the front and behind sides at the top and bottom of beams to evaluate
the average curvature at mid–span. These LVDTs were mounted on plastic attachments that
were bonded on the concrete using epoxy (Fig. 4). Fig. 4 showed that all of SGs were broken
after testing.

Fig. 4. Strain measurement by SGs and broken SGs

Turker et al. [9] investigated the flexural behaviour of ultra–high performance fiber
reinforced concrete beams containing hybrid fiber. To calculate energy dissipation capacities
of beams, the moment–curvature relationships of beams were found. In the four-point loading
tests of beams, the strains in compression and tension zones were measured by LVDTs
attached to a metal frame (Fig. 5). The frame was installed to the front and behind faces of
beams by the pointed bolts. However, deformation measurement could not be made along the
entire pure bending zone due to the short gage length of the LVDTs. As seen in Fig. 5, the
main cracks in some reinforced concrete beams passed through the points where the pointed
bolt contacted the concrete. During some beam tests, the frame and LVDTs were broken due
to the concrete crushing in the compression zone and other cracks. Therefore, the
measurement could not be completed after the peak load. Moreover, authors reported that the
major cracks on the beam were out of the measuring frame (Fig. 5). In another work, Turker
and Torun [10] faced the similar problems mentioned above [9] related to the strain
measurement in RC beams (Fig. 6).

Fig. 5. Insufficient strain measurement by frame with LVDT

 Fig. 6. Damaged strain measurement frame and LVDTs

Huang et al. also tried to measure the strains in the tensile zone by SGs in high performance
fiber reinforced RC beam subjected to bending. But they stated that the SGs were broken
without getting enough data in this zone [11]. Brault and Hoult [12] stated that the strain
measurement along a tensile rebar in the pure bending zone of RC beam was needed for
modeling. However, they said that it was not uncommon for tens of SGs to be bonded
sequentially on a rebar. They pointed that this was not cost effective and was labour intensive
which limited the available number of tests, thus there was a need for a more practical
method of acquiring distributed rebar strain measurements.

As seen from literature survey related to the strain measurements in RC beams, the strains
can be measured by using the SG or LVDT or by using both SG and LVDT together. The SG
is expensive because it is disposable. It measures the strain in a specific point in RC beam. In
case of non–uniform concrete in RC beam, the SG does not give reliable strain
measurements. Therefore, it is needed a lot of SGs because they have to be glued along the
pure moment zone length. Another disadvantage is that bonding the SG onto the concrete or
rebar requires special care and is a time consuming process. Breaking of the SGs before
reaching the peak load during the RC beam tests is another problem. As for the LVDTs, they
are mounted on the RC beam by using the dowels or metal/plastic attachments which are
glued by epoxy. In case of using dowels, the dowel holes are drilled on the RC beam. This
method is both semi-destructive and time-consuming process. During test, these holes can
cause cracks to start or cracks can pass through where these holes are located. The use of
metal/plastic attachments is also a time-consuming and costly process. Since the epoxy used
to bond the metal/plastic attachments hardens over time, it extends the time to prepare the RC
beams for testing. Also, the breakage of the epoxy during test may cause the falling off of
LVDT from the RC beam, and thus resulting in the halting of data acquisition. Another
problem is the gage length of the LVDT. When the gage length of the LVDT is short, the
measurement of deformation cannot be made along the entire pure bending zone. Another
disadvantage is that, in case of full–scale RC beam tests, many LVDTs have to be used when
the pure bending zone is longer.
In this study, to eliminate the disadvantages mentioned above, a novel flexural strain
measuring setup (FSMS) is developed for full–scale RC beam tests. The developed strain
measurement setup is simple and inexpensive. The installation of FSMS on the RC beam is
very easy and it allows quick testing of the RC beams. Moreover, the flexural strains in the
RC beams subjected to bending can be measured and recorded more accurately by this newly
developed setup.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Description and working procedure of FSMS
The exploded view of FSMS made of metal profile having rectangular tube section was
shown in Fig. 7. FSMS mainly consisted of the right and left frame parts. The other parts of
FSMS were mounted on these two main frames. These two main frames were also used to fix
FSMS on RC beam tested. Prior to testing, to connect the right and left main frames to each
other and to adjust the distance between them the distance adjustment rods with wing nuts
was used. Two girders were used at the top of FSMS to measure the compressive strain of RC
beam. While LVDT was mounted on one of these girders, the other girder carried the fulcrum
of LVDT. One end of the girder carrying LVDT was connected to the right main frame by
hinge and the other end of this girder could horizontally move freely on the left main frame
by guide–way. As for other girder carrying the fulcrum of LVDT, one end of it was attached
to the left main frame by hinge and the other end of this girder could horizontally move freely
on the right main frame by guide–way. When the RC beam test started, the horizontal
movements of these two girders were in opposite directions relative to each other at the top of
the FSMS. (Fig. 8). The similar design was also made at bottom of FSMS by using similar
girders and joints for measuring tensile deformation of RC beam. While LVDTs were
attached on the girders by using clamp, the fulcrums were screwed on the girders. Each of the
right and left main frames contained the one pointed bolt at the top and two pointed bolt at
the bottom to fix the FSMS on RC beam. The flexural deformations measured by LVDTs
were T and B at the top and the bottom, respectively. As shown in Fig. 9, T and B were the
values of horizontal deformation at the top and the bottom hinge levels of the FSMS,
respectively. Before the start of testing, the initial length Lo was the horizontal distance
between the centres of the top or bottom pointed bolts on the left and right main frames. In
this study the gauge length of the LVDTs used was 50 mm. The deformations measured using
LVDTs at the top and the bottom hinge levels of FSMS were shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 7. Exploded view of FSMS

Fig. 8. Movement directions of main frames of FSMS

 Fig. 9. Longitudinal view of RC beam, deformation and strain diagrams

2.2. Preparation of RC Beam for Tests

In this work, V–shaped RC beam section was chosen to show that the flexural strain
measurement performance of the developed FSMS was also effective in irregular sections.
RC beam with V–shaped section had longitudinal rebar at tension and compression zones,
and also transverse rebar. The self–compacting concrete containing 0.80% macro steel fiber,
0.20% micro steel fiber and 0.25% polypropylene fiber (PP) was used to produce RC beam.
Hybrid fiber reinforced self–compacting concrete mixture was prepared according to
EFNARC [13]. Since the concrete mix preparation and the construction details of RC beam
were out of the scope of this study, only the materials used and the mixing ratios were given
in Table 1. The geometrical details of RC beam section were shown in Fig. 10. The length of
RC beam was 3000 mm.
Table 1. Mixture amounts (kg/m3)
Fine Coarse Macro Micro
W/ PP
Mixture C FA W HRWRA Aggregate Aggregate Fiber Fiber
(C+FA) Fiber
(0–4mm) (4–16mm) (40/30) (13/0.16)
35
550 223 0.25 6.25 743 318 62.8 14.4 2.28
0
Note: C, FA , W and HRWRA in the table represent Cement, Fly Ash, Water and High Range Water Reducer Admixture,
respectively.
 Fig. 10. RC beam section and dimensions
As shown in Fig. 11, to compare the strain values obtained from the FSMS and the SGs, three
SGs were glued to the top face of RC beam in the pure bending zone. The SGs used were
supplied from Japanese company (Tokyo Sokki Kenkyujo Co., Ltd.). The type, gauge length
and gauge factor of SG were PFL–10–11–3L, 10 mm and 2.12±1%, respectively. Three SGs,
SG–1, SG–2, SG–3, were used to measure the deformations in the pure bending zone. Two of
these SGs were glued to the ends of this zone and one to the middle.

Fig. 11. SGs glued on concrete at top face of RC beam

2.3. Mounting and demounting FSMS on RC beam.

RC beam was placed on the supports of full–scale testing setup. Then, the longitudinal mid–
point of RC beam was marked at the top. The marked mid–point of RC beam and the
horizontal mid–point of the FSMS were overlapped (Fig. 12.a). Four wood pieces with 20
mm thick were used to adjust the distance between the bottom part of main frames of the
FSMS and the bottom face of RC beam (Fig. 12.b). Four pointed bolts at the bottom of main
frames of FSMS were touched to the bottom face of RC beam. Next, the two pointed bolts at
the top of main frames of FSMS were fastened to the top face of RC beam (Fig. 12.c). After
all wooden pieces with 20 mm thick used for the distance adjustment were removed from the
bottom, all the pointed bolts on the top and bottom of the main frames of the FSMS were
firmly tightened. Before the test started, the distance adjustment rods were removed from the
FSMS (Fig. 12.d). The full–scale testing setup, RC beam subjected to four–point bending and
the FSMS are shown in Fig. 13. LVDTs at the top and bottom and SGs attached to the top
face of RC beam were connected to a data acquisition system and thus, the deformation or
strain data were recorded during the test. After RC beam test was finished, the right and left
main frames of the FSMS were again connected to each other using the distance adjustment
rods (Fig. 14.a). The FSMS was removed from the tested RC beam (Fig. 14.b) and was ready
again for the next RC beam tests.

a) Overlap the mid–points of RC beam and b) Adjusting distance by wood piece

FSMS

a) FSMS installed on RC beam by b) Removing of distance adjustment

pointed bolts rods from FSMS
Fig. 12. Installing of FSMS on RC beam
 Fig. 13. Full–scale testing setup

a) Connecting main frames of the FSMS by b) Removing FSMS from the tested RC
distance adjustment rods beam
Fig. 14. Preparing the FSMS for the next RC beam test

3. Experimental results and discussions

The flexural strains of RC beam were successfully measured using the developed FSMS.
Considering the literature studies on the setup of the strain measurement on RC beam, there
were many challenges faced by the researchers. For example, the steel dowels or
metal/plastic attachments glued to RC beam face with epoxy were used in the process of
installation of LVDTs. To drill the dowel holes on the side faces of RC beam or to glue the
metal/plastic attachments to these faces with epoxy was a time-consuming process and labor
intensive. Another problem was that the dowel holes could damage RC beams and the cracks
occurred during the testing of RC beams could pass through or near these holes. Due to the
long pure bending zone, the multiple LVDTs attached side by side using a lot of dowels
could be required in the tensile zone to measure the flexural strains of RC beam. Therefore,
the large number of dowel holes would give more damage to RC beam. In the case of using
metal/plastic attachments glued to RC beam face, epoxy was broken during the test and the
LVDTs could fall before the test was finished and the sufficient data was obtained. Also, it
was necessary to use more than one SG to the top face of RC beam along the pure bending
zone to measure the strain in the compression zone. In case of the crushing in the
compressive zone of RC beam, the SG could be broken before the test was completed and
thus, the measurement process could not continue.
In some cases, a metal frame was attached to the RC beam using pointed bolts tightened near
the top compression and the bottom tension zones. Then, LVDTs were horizontally placed on
this frame at the level of the pointed bolts. However, if the cracks formed during RC beam
test passed through the ends of these pointed bolts, this frame would fall off the beam and
continuous data acquisition could not be completed.
In full–scale RC beam tests, it was important to measure the flexural strains to cover the
entire pure bending zone in order to obtain more realistic strain values. In this study, the
length of the pure bending zone of RC beam was 933 mm. The strain measurement length in
the pure bending region of the FSMS was 640 mm. Therefore, the strain measurement was
made at 69% of the length of the pure bending zone of RC beam. In this case, more realistic
strain measurements could be made in the case of non-uniform concrete, especially. Besides,
this FSMS eliminated both the use of a large number of LVDTs having the long gage length
and side by side of the use of LVDTs with the normal gage length. Thus, FSMS eliminated
the difficulties associated with flexural strain measurements encountered during the testing of
full–scale RC beams and provided great conveniences. Another advantage of this developed
FSMS was that it could be used in all RC beams having different cross-sections such as
rectangular, triangular, trapezoidal, T, circular, etc.

The T and B deformations at the level of hinges at top and bottom of FSMS were measured
by the LVDTs (Fig. 9.b) and then, the strains and curvature in RC beam section were
obtained by equating similar triangles from the strain diagram of RC beam subjected to four-
point bending (Fig. 9.c) as following.

(1)

(2)
where T and B were deformations at the level of hinges at top and bottom of FSMS. The
initial length Lo was the horizontal distance between the centres of the top or bottom pointed
bolts on the left and right main frames. ε T and ε B were strains at the level of hinges at top and
bottom of FSMS.

(3)
where c and h were the neutral axis and the height of RC beam, respectively. b was the
vertical distance between the bottom face of the beam and the hinges at the bottom of the
FSMS while t was the vertical distance between the top face of RC beam and the hinges at
the top of the FSMS.
 (4)
where v was the vertical distance between the top and bottom hinges of the FSMS. h was the
height of RC beam.

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)
where ε c, ε ct and ε swas the compressive strain at top fibres, the tensile strain at bottom of
RC beam and the tensile strain of the longitudinal bar, respectively.

The variation with moment of the strain in the compressive zone on the top face of RC beam
and the strain on the longitudinal tensile rebar in the tensile zone of the RC beam measured
by FSMS was shown in Fig.15. After reaching the maximum moment, while the moment
remained approximately constant, ε c and ε s strains continued to increase until the test was
stopped. When the strain in the longitudinal tensile rebar reached 2000 corresponding to the
yield point of rebar, the compressive strain in the concrete on the top face of RC beam was
750. The compressive strain on the top face of RC beam reached 1250 at the maximum
moment. The variation with moment of the tensile strain of concrete on the bottom face of
RC beam measured by FSMS was also shown in Fig.16. The tensile strain of concrete at
which the first tensile crack developed in RC beam was 123 that was consistent with the
literature [14] at the moment of 4 kN.m.
 Fig. 15. Variation with moment of strains measured by FSMS

Fig. 16. Variation with moment of tensile strain measured by FSMS

The variation with moment of the compressive strains of concrete on the top face of RC beam
measured by FSMS and SGs was shown in Fig.17. Up to a strain of 265, the rate of strain
increase measured by SGs was slightly greater than that of measured by FSMS, but the strain
values obtained from FSMS and SGs were slightly different from each other. When the first
crack occurred in the tensile region at bottom face of RC beam, that is, the moment reached 4
kN.m, the strain rate of the SGs was maximum compared to the strain rate measured by
FSMS. However, after the moment of 4 kN.m, there were gradually decrease in the strain
rates of SGs and they became equal to the strain rate and strain value measured by FSMS at
the moment of 8 kN.m. Meanwhile, when the first tensile crack of concrete formed at the
bottom face of RC beam, the compressive strain at the top face measured by FSMS had
reached 100. The reason for increase in strain rates in measurement made with SGs was that
in a heterogeneous material, SGs measured at a very short range (10 mm), while the
measurement made by FSMS occurred at a longer range (640 mm). There were deviations in
the measurement of strains made by SGs due to the heterogeneity of concrete [15]. In
addition, the strain rates and values obtained from SGs could be affected with the abrupt
changes such as cracking of concrete and etc. The strain rates and values measured by the
FSMS and SGs were the same until the rebar began to yield in the tensile zone of RC beam.
This condition could be attributed to the fact that the rebar was elastically deforming in the
tensile region, while the tensile crack of concrete in the tensile zone was stably progressing
due to fibre reinforced concrete preventing local and abrupt cracks. After the tensile rebar
started to yield, the rate of increase in the strains measured by SGs was greater than that of
measured by FSMS until maximum moment. The moment-strain curve obtained from the
FSMS showed a smoother change, while the moment-strain curves of the SGs changed more
sharply. After reaching the maximum moment, the strain rates and values measured by FSMS
and SGs became equal. When the strain in the compression zone of RC beam reached to
3000, the concrete crushed and after this stage, data could not be obtained due to the
damage of SGs. However, the strain measurement made by FSMS continued until the test
was stopped. As for the moment–curvature diagram drawn by using the strains obtained from
FSMS, it was displayed in Fig. 18. The curvature values were calculated by using Eq. 8. In
Fig. 18 Mcr, My and Mu were the moment values corresponding to tensile cracking of concrete
at bottom face, longitudinal rebar yielding in tension zone and concrete crushing strain in
compression zone (ɛc=0.003), respectively. The curvature values corresponding to these
moment values were ϕcr , ϕy and ϕu, respectively. It could be seen from Fig. 18 that the
moment–curvature diagram obtained was quite smooth.
 Fig. 17. Variation with moment of strains on top face of RC beam measured by FSMS and
SGs

Fig. 18. Moment–curvature diagram generated from strains obtained from FSMS

4. Concluding remarks
In this study, FSMS is developed to measure the flexural strains in RC beams and the
following conclusions are drawn:
 FSMS is simple and inexpensive. As FSMS is quick and easy to install on RC beam,
it is not time consuming and does not require labor intensive. In case of a large
number of RC beam samples to be tested, it will save time and provide a more
 comfortable experimental program, especially for researchers working on large-scale
samples.
 Since the dowel is not used, there is no damage to the RC beam caused by the dowel
hole. As FSMS is fixed to the top and bottom faces of RC beam with pointed bolts, it
is not affected by the cracks occurring on the side faces of RC beam during the test
and does not also affect the change of crack directions.
 In FSMS the strains in both concrete and longitudinal rebar at any point of cross-
section can be measured by using only two LVDTs in total, one at the lower and the
other at the upper of RC beam.
 Since SGs are directly attached to the surface of concrete, they are greatly affected by
sudden changes in strain due to the damages of concrete under loading. On the other
hand, as for FSMS, since LVDTs do not directly come into contact with the concrete,
that is, only the pointed bolts come into contact with the concrete. Therefore, it is not
affected by abrupt conditions such as cracking or crushing of concrete or yield of
rebar.
 FSMS can easily measure the flexure strains in RC beams with various cross-sectional
shapes such as rectangular, triangular, trapezoidal, T, circular, etc.
 When the concrete of RC beam is wet, problems may occur in the bond of SGs to the
concrete. Therefore, testing will be delayed as the sample will need to be dried. That
kind of problem will not be encountered in FSMS.
 FSMS can measure strains over a long region of pure bending in RC beam.
Consequently, since FSMS also covers local minor non-homogeneities, it can give
more realistic strain values compared to SGs.
 The flexural strains obtained by using FSMS in RC beam can be used in checking the
accuracy of new flexural strain measurement methods. It can be used safely in the
correct interpretation of the behavior and modeling of the RC beam tested.

CrediT authorship contribution statement

Metin Katlav: Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Investigation,

Visualization. Paki Turgut: Conceptualization, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation,
Resources, Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Funding acquisition, Visualization.
Kazim Turk: Conceptualization, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources,
Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Funding acquisition, Visualization.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal
relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey
(TUBITAK), Number of Project No: 121M024.

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