STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOR OF REINFORCED CONCRETE VIERENDEEL TRUSS TO USE IN PRECAST CONSTRUCTION

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the structural behavior of Vierendeel Truss use instead of bearing walls in precast construction. The experimental program contains casting and testing (8) R.C wall panels specimens with opening with right angle corner, the dimension of opening (300*350*75) mm which it is length, width, and thickness respectively. The dimension of the R.C wall panel specimens were (1000*750*75) mm which are length, width, and thickness respectively and all the specimens contain nib (cantilever) portion (100*60*75) mm length width and thickness respectively. In this study, the main variable is the type of concrete and the compressive strength. The wall panel specimens were tested with uniformly distributed load with an eccentricity of (67.5) mm chosen by the researcher. the specimens were simply supported to represent the supports of the truss. The wall panels were divided into (2) groups, the first group is normal strength with (4) specimens and the second group is reactive powder concrete (4) specimens. The failure load, load-deflection curves, and crack pattern were studied. All the panels were deflected in single curvature in the vertical direction of loading. The presence of an opening leads to a decrease in strength, opening causes concentrated stress at the corners of the opening and initiated the cracks and failure.