Flexural performance of RC beams made with recycled brick aggregate

- Flexural behavior of beams made with recycled brick aggregate was investigated.
- Flexural behavior of beams made with recycled brick aggregate and virgin brick aggregate was compared.
- ACI 318-14 can be safely used for flexural design of beams made with recycled aggregate.

An investigation on the flexural performance of reinforced concrete beams made with recycled brick aggregate was conducted. For this, 24 reinforced concrete beam specimens of width 200 mm, height 250 mm and length 2100 mm were made with recycled brick aggregate, picket brick aggregate, and brick aggregate. Other variables include steel ratio, doubly reinforced, and singly reinforced concrete beams. Flexural tests of the beams were performed by four-point loading test. During loading, deflections of the beams at the middle and middle-third locations were recorded. Crack widths and crack spacing were also recorded. The beams were loaded gradually till failure. The results of beams made with recycled brick aggregate were compared with the same results of beams made with virgin brick aggregates, i.e. picket brick aggregate and brick aggregate. It is revealed that the design equations proposed in ACI 318-14 for design of reinforced concrete beams can be used for design of beams made with recycled brick aggregate.