Reliability and flexural behavior of triangular and T-reinforced concrete beams

The paper studied the behavior of reinforced concrete triangular and T-beams. Three reinforced concrete beams were tested experimentally and analyzed analytically using the finite element method. Their reliability was also assessed using the reliability index approach. The results showed that the finite element vertical displacements compared well with those obtained experimentally. They also showed that the vertical displacements obtained using the finite element method were larger than those obtained experimentally. This is a strong indication that the finite element results were conservative and reliable. The results showed that the triangular beams exhibited higher ductility at failure than did the T-beam. The plastic deformations at failure of the triangular beams were higher than that of the T-beam. This is a strong indication of the higher ductility of the triangular beams compared to the T-beam. Triangular beams exhibited smaller cracks than did T-beams for equal areas of steel and concrete. The design moment strengths M c computed using the American Concrete Institute (ACI) design formulation were safe and close to those computed using experimental results. The experimental results validated the reliability analysis results, which stated that the triangular beams are more reliable than T-beams for equal areas of steel and concrete.