Analytical and Experimental Investigation of Recycled Aggregate Concrete Beams Subjected to Pure Torsion

This study presents the ATENA-3D simulation of natural aggregate concrete (NAC) and recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) beams subjected to pure torsion and the beam was validated by the experimental results with corresponding outputs. All the test specimens were 150 mm wide, 250 mm, deep and 1800 mm long. The natural coarse aggregate (NCA) were replaced by coarse recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) at three replacement ratios of 0 %, 50 %, and 100 % to prepare concrete. All the beam specimens were simulated and tested to assess the parameters like torque, twist, crack pattern, stiffness, and toughness in pure torsion. The comparison of ATENA-3D and experimental results showed that torque resistance capacity, stiffness, and toughness of beams decreased as the % of RCA increased in the concrete. A similar torque-twist curve pattern was observed in simulation and experimental studies. All the specimens failed due to torsional cracking. The torsional capacity of the beams in ATENA-3D software was higher by 9.80 %, 10.67 %, and 12.80 % than the experimental results. The results reveal that varying the quantity of RCA in RAC does not compromise the pure torsional behavior of the beam in both methods. Also, it can be concluded that the use of RCA in RAC is acceptable for structural concrete beams in pure torsion.