Abstract:
Stainless steel (SS) is gaining popularity as reinforcement of structural elements in
Bangladesh mainly due to its enhanced corrosion resistance, improved performance against
fire, and resilient behavior. This research investigates the flexural performance of concrete
beam reinforced with locally manufactured stainless steel of the Grade 201 series. This
experimental program included a total twelve reinforced concrete beams subjected four
points bending test. Eight of them are SS reinforced concrete beams and the remaining four
beams are reinforced by carbon steel (CS) as control specimens. Prior to conduct these
tests, the mechanical properties of SS rebars and their bond strength in concrete are
examined briefly. The tested beam specimens are divided into three categories based on
their reinforcement ratio. Each group of beam consists of four specimens with low,
medium, and high reinforcement ratios. The tested results of SS reinforced beams of each
category are compared with that of the CS reinforced beams and also with the available
codes. The experimental results in terms of the cracking moment showed a very good
agreement with the code values as the differences of capacities within 10%. The ultimate
moment capacity of tested SS reinforced beams also shows that theoretical value exceeds
by a maximum of 30% compared to that of test results. Additionally, a series of finite
element models are developed emulating the experimental program to understand the
flexural response numerically. All twelve models are validated using finite element (FE)
models in Abaqus v14.1 . Crack propagation and damage patterns of experimental
specimens matched well with that of the FE simulations. The outcome in terms of loaddisplacement relationships extracted from finite element analysis also supports the
experimental results with minor deviance. The overall outcome of this study suggests that
using SS as reinforcement of the beam is quite reasonable and can be used confidently as
an alternative to CS.
