STRUCTURAL PERFORMANCE OF SELF-COMPACTING LIGHTWEIGHT REINFORCED CONCRETE SLABS

This paper is an experimental study in the flexural behavior of self-compacting light weight concrete LWC slabs. Seven medium scale slabs were statically tested to failure under a central load. The concrete type, flexural reinforcement ratio, slab s thickness and statical system were the test parameters. Key results showed that the use of LWC in slabs resulted in most pronounced post-cracking structural degradations, including reduced stiffness until failure at 12.S and 38 % reduced capacity and deformability, respectively, relative to the normal density concrete NDC reference slab. The 2.7 failure to cracking loads1 ratio for the LWC slab violating the minimum reinforcement of the Egyptian code also reflected the possibility of reducing this limit in LWC slabs. The LWC slab s degradations were similarly overcompensated through either 32.6 or 25 % increased reinforcement ratio or thickness, respectively, where 35.7 % increased capacity was achieved, but at the price of up to 70.8 % fluther deformability reductions. Much lower increases might therefore result in a similar performance -but less ductile- LWC slab relative to the NDC one; hence, limiting the feasibility of LWC slabs to strength governed applications, where the dead loads reductions and benefits would overcome the extra costof LWC production.