Shear Behavior of RC Beams Cast with LAVA Lightweight Aggregates

The objective of this paper is to study the shear behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams cast with lava light weight aggregate (LWA). Six shear deficient beams were designed, constructed and cast with Normal weight concrete (NWC) and lightweight concrete (LWC). All the normal weight concrete (NWC) and light weight concrete (LWC) beam specimens were tested under one point loading, however LWC specimens were tested after 28 and 56 days. Load versus mid-span deflection response along with the failure modes was recorded until the failure of the specimens. The experimental results shows that all beam failed due diagonal crack and the specimens tested at 56 days achieved comparable shear strength to that of NWC beams. In-addition, the shear strength reduction factor was in the range of 0.78-0.94.