Strength, cracking and deflection performance of large-scale self-consolidating concrete beams subjected to shear failure

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the shear strength, cracking behavior and deflection characteristics of large-scale concrete beams made with both self-consolidating concrete (SCC) and normal concrete (NC). Twenty concrete beams without shear reinforcement were tested to shear failure under simply supported three-point loading conditions. The variables were concrete type, coarse aggregate content, beam depth (150–750 mm) and longitudinal reinforcing steel ratio (ρw)(ρw) (1% and 2%). The performance was evaluated based on crack pattern, crack width, load at first flexure/diagonal (shear) crack, ultimate shear resistance, post-cracking shear resistance/ductility, load–deflection response and failure mode. The results showed that the ultimate shear strength of SCC beams was slightly lower than that of their NC counterparts. The results also validated the performance of various Code-based equations in predicting the crack width and first flexural cracking moment/load.