THE STRENGTH OF REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAM ELEMENTS UNDER CYCLIC ALTERNATING LOADING AND LOW CYCLE LOAD OF CONSTANT SIGN

The behavior of reinforced concrete elements under some types of cyclic loads is described in the paper. The main aim of the investigations is research of the stress-strain state and strength of the inclined sections of reinforced concrete beam elements in conditions of systemic impact of constructive factors and the factor of external influence. To spotlight the problem of cyclic loadings three series of tests were conducted by the author. Firstly, the analysis of the tests showed that especially cyclic alternating loading reduces the bearing capacity of reinforced concrete beams and their crack resistance by 20 % due to the fatigue of concrete and reinforcement. Thus the change of load sign creates serious changes of stress-strain state of reinforced concrete beam elements. Low cycle loads of constant sign effect the behavior of the constructions not so adversely. Secondly, based on the experimental data mathematical models of elements’ strength were obtained. These models allow evaluating the impact of each factor on the output parameter not only separately, but also in interaction with each other. Furthermore, the material spotlighted by the author describes stress-strain state of the investigated elements, cracking mechanism, changes of deflection values, the influence of mode cyclic loading during the tests. Since the data on the subject are useful and important to building practice, the ultimate aim of the tests will be working out for improvement of nonlinear calculation models of span reinforced concrete constructions taking into account the impact of these loads, and also there will be the development of engineering calculation techniques of their strength, crack resistance and deformability.