Torsion Behaviour of Beam with Bamboo as Reinforcement and Coconut Shell as Aggregate

Kesani Sarath Chandra gowd , D. Arul Prakash

Abstract

Bamboo, which is fast growing grass and eco-friendly and naturally renewable material, is proved to be appropriate for structural applications. The tensile strength of bamboo is quite high and is almost similar to that of steel. This makes bamboo a perfect alternative to steel in tensile loading applications. The intention of the research is to evolve a design using bamboo as one of the chief structural materials, for a safe and durable house. This research investigates and evaluates the results of bamboo reinforced coconut shell concrete beams subjected to torsion and compared with conventional concrete beams and coconut shell concrete beams with steel reinforcement. Twelve beams, three with treated bamboo reinforced coconut shell concrete, three with un-treated bamboo reinforced coconut shell concrete, three with steel reinforced coconut shell concrete and three with conventional concrete were fabricated and tested. Study includes the general cracking characteristics, pre cracking behaviour and analysis, post cracking behaviour and analysis, crack width and stiffness. It was observed that the torsional behaviour of bamboo reinforced coconut shell concrete is comparable to that of conventional concrete.