HBRC Journal (2014) 10, 287297

Housing and Building National Research Center

HBRC Journal

http://ees.elsevier.com/hbrcj

Eect of tension lap splice on the behavior

of high strength concrete (HSC) beams
Ahmed El-Azab, Hatem M. Mohamed *

Engineering Consultant Group, Cairo, Egypt

Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

Received 23 December 2013; accepted 22 January 2014

KEYWORDS Abstract In the recent years, many research efforts have been carried out on the bond strength
Bond; between normal strength concrete (NSC) and reinforcing bars spliced in tension zones in beams.
Concrete; Many codes gave a minimum splice length for tension and compression reinforcement as a factor
Lap splice; of the bar diameter depending on many parameters such as concrete strength, steel yield stress,
High strength; shape of bar end, shape of bar surface and also bar location. Also, codes gave another restriction
Casting position; about the percentage of total reinforcement to be spliced at the same time. Comparatively limited
Reinforcement ratio attention has been directed toward the bond between high strength concrete (HSC) and reinforcing
bars spliced in tension zones in beams. HSC has high modulus of elasticity, high density and long-
term durability. This research presents an experimental study on the bond between high strength
concrete (HSC) and reinforcing bars spliced in tension zones in beams. It reports the inuence of
several parameters on bond in splices. The parameters covered are casting position, splice length
as a factor of bar diameter, bar diameter and reinforcement ratio. The research involved tests on
sixteen simply-supported beams of 1800 mm span, 200 mm width and 400 mm thickness made of
HSC. In each beam, the total tensile steel bars were spliced in the constant moment zone. Crack
pattern, crack propagation, cracking load, failure load and mi span deection were recorded and
analyzed to study the mentioned parameters effect.
2014 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Housing and Building National Research
Center.

Introduction
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +20 1223185801; fax: +20
2330424645. Adequate bond between concrete and reinforcing bars in a
E-mail address: hatem_amn@yahoo.com (H.M. Mohamed). splice is an essential requirement in the design of reinforced
Peer review under responsibility of Housing and Building National concrete structures. In the last 15 years, concrete with
Research Center.
compressive strength exceeding 70 MPa and ranging up to
120 MPa has been achieved consistently and utilized in bridges
and high rise building construction. This concrete was
Production and hosting by Elsevier described as high strength concrete (HSC) since it has higher

1687-4048 2014 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Housing and Building National Research Center.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hbrcj.2014.01.002
288 A. El-Azab, H.M. Mohamed

strength than the usual normal-strength concrete (NSC) that increased by about 20% and 22% when increasing splice
has been produced for almost a century with 28-days strength length from 20 to 30 and 40 times bar diameter respectively.
in the range of 2040 MPa. Also the ultimate load increased with 19% and 20%, respec-
Many researches were reported on bond strength between tively. It was also noticed that cracking and ultimate loads
concrete and deformed bars for both normal strength and high for both spliced length 30 and 40 times bar diameter were
strength concrete. Experimental tests were done and analytical approximately equal. It was also found that increasing splice
equations were proposed by some researchers such as Asfahani length from 20 to 40 times bar diameter increased the beam
and Rangan [1] and Orangun et al. [2]. stiffness. Also, trend of load deection behavior for both splice
Asfhani and Rangan [1] studied the effect of several lengths (30 and 40 times bar diameter) were approximately
parameters on bond of splices. The parameters considered identical; this led to estimate the development length to be
were concrete strength, splice length, concrete cover, ratios not less than 35 times bar diameter for concrete strength be-
between sides, bottom cover, spacing between spliced bars, tween 50 and 58 N/mm2.
rib face angle of the reinforcing bar and admixtures in the In the same research variable ratios of spliced tension bars
concrete mix. Based on test results, the following equations at mid span with respect to total tension bars (33%, 67% and
were proposed to calculate the maximum cracking bond 100%) were investigated. It was found that spliced reinforce-
strength (i.e., bond strength when the concrete cover cracks) ment percentage had no effect on either crack pattern or fail-
of short reinforcing bars embedded in concrete blocks in ure mode such as splice length and silica fume dosage. Also
pull-out tests. it was found that the cracking load increased by about 12%,
1. For concrete with compressive strength less than 19% and 49% for spliced percentage of 33%, 67% and
50 MPa: 100%, respectively. However the ultimate load varied insignif-
Uc 4:9c=db 0:5=c=db 3:6fct 1 icantly by about 2% only. The main conclusion was tension
reinforcement may be spliced till 100% of total steel without
2. For concrete with compressive strength equal to or any loss of beam capacity.
greater than 50 MPa (HSC): Farahat [4] proved that the new technique of using studs
connected to the reinforcing bars along the spliced length
Uc 8:6c=db 0:5=c=db 5:5fct 2
results in avoiding the effect of splitting cracks and cover
where Uc is the cracking bond stress; C is the minimum of CX spalling. The studied parameters were the length of lap splice
(side clear cover), CY (bottom clear cover & (CS + db)/2., db is (20 and 40 times bar diameter), shape of bond studs (L, V
the bar diameter, CS is the clear distance between two adjacent and C shapes), height of bond studs (50 mm,100 mm and
bars and fct is the tensile strength of concrete taken equal to 150 mm) and spacing between bond studs along the spliced
p
0.55 fc0 , where fc0 is the cylindrical compressive strength of length (10, 20 and 40 times bar diameter). The contribution
concrete expressed in (Mpa). The factor 8.6 in Eq. (2) should of using bond studs to the ultimate capacity, strength,
be replaced by 7.3 for bars within rib face angle between 23 deection and cracking was precisely observed. The experi-
and 27 deg. since Eq. (2) was obtained based on bars with mental test program consisted of 13 reinforced concrete beams
rib face angle between 40 and 47 deg. with concrete compressive strength of 30 N/mm2 was classied
Mostafa [3] studied the effect of different parameters on the based on the pervious studied parameters. The cut-off ratio for
HSC beams with tension lap splice. These include silica fume the spliced bars in all specimens was 100% in the middle part
dosage, steel ber volume (Vf), splice length as a factor of of the beam.
bar diameter and the percentage of spliced reinforcement with Reducing the tension lap splice to 40 and 20 times the bar
respect to the total reinforcement. 30 High Strength Concrete diameter reduced the cracking load by 2.5% and 8.75%, the
(HSC) beams specimens with tension lap-splices in the con- ultimate load by 18% and 33% and the ductility by 44%
stant moment region were tested. The specimens were divided and 88%, respectively. However reducing the tension lap splice
into 10 groups, three specimens each with a specimen with no has no effect on the initial stiffness compared with that of the
splice as the control specimen. reference beam. The beam with lap splices of 20 times the bar
Three different percentages of silica fume (10%, 15% and diameter failed in brittle mode. The L and C-shaped bond
20%) were used as an addition of Portland cement. It was studs were much better than the V-shaped studs in enhancing
found that silica fume dosage had no effect on either crack the tension lap splice. It can be concluded that the lap splice
pattern or failure mode. It was also found that the cracking length can be calculated from the following equation:
load increased by 18% and 53% when using silica of 15% X
Lp Lh Lv 3
and 20%, respectively. Also the ultimate load increased for
the same ratios by 7% and 17%, respectively. In addition, Where: Lp = the required lap splice length according to design
the increase of silica fume dosage from 10% to 20% had a code. Lh = horizontal length of lap splice. RLv = the
minor effect on beam stiffness. At load levels above cracking summation of vertical projection lengths for the provided bond
loads, the increase in silica fume decreases beam stiffness for studs.
the same concrete strength. The only gain when increasing The ultimate load capacity and the ductility were reduced
silica fume dosage was the increase in the beam ductility with the increase of the spacing between studs. However, pro-
represented by area under the load deection curve. viding L-shaped studs even at bigger spacing signicantly im-
Splice lengths 20, 30 and 40 times the reinforcing bar proved the initial stiffness. The change in the stud height had
diameter were investigated in Mostafas research. It was found a minor effect on the test results. However, the smaller stud
that splice length had no effect on either crack pattern or heights gave better results.
failure mode, except that increasing splice length prevents Hamad et al. [5], tested 16 HPC beams with the following
splitting cracks to occur. It was noticed that the cracking load variables:
Effect of tension lap splice on the behavior of high strength concrete 289

1- The percentages replacement by weight of Portland Orangun et al. [2]. The ACI 318-95 [7] limit of 70 MPa on
cement by silica fumes were taken (0%, 5%, 10%, concrete compressive strength was appeared to be unnecessary
15% and 20%). and unwarranted in computing the anchorage length. A review
2- Casting position (top or bottom). of this limit was recommended.
3- Super plasticizer dosage (2 or 4 L/100 kg). The proposed ACI 318-B [9] bond provisions for the
development or lap splicing of tensile reinforcement contain
Hamad et al. [5] investigated the bond strength of reinforce- both a simple design approach and a rened design approach:
ment in HSC. They concluded the following: 1- The simple design approach:
-The development length (Ldb) for No.7 deformed bars and
1- Equations of Orangun et al. [2] provide a much better esti- larger may be calculated using the following equation.
mate of bond strength than equation of the ACI code p
[69]. It was only Olsen [10] in 1990 who reported results Ldb 0:05 db fy = fc 0 5
of 21 beams splice tests and concluded that Orangun et al. -The development length (Ldb) for No.6 deformed bars and
[2] equations overestimated the splice strength of HSC. smaller is 80% of that calculated from Eq. (5).
2- The current code limit of 70 MPa on concrete compres- The modication factors are simple lump sum constants:
sive strength in computing the anchorage length appears
to be unnecessary and unwarranted. However, it is rec- a- A value of 1.00 for a clear cover to the bars not less
ommended that the removal of ACI 318-95 [7] limitation than db and in addition; either the clear spacing must
on fc0 be coupled with some ductility requirements on not be less than 2db or the clear spacing must not be
anchored bars in HSC. less than db and minimum stirrups must be provided.
b- A value of 1.50 when even less connement is available.
Eight beams in four pairs were tested by Hwang et al. [11].
Each pair included a specimen with plain Portland cement 2- The rened design approach:
concrete and one with concrete in which 10% of the Portland Some economies on this length may be realized by using
cement was replaced by equal weight of silica fume. Variables this design approach, for the inuence of connement.
among pairs were water-to-cementitious material ratios of 0.28 The modication factor for connement is dened by:
and 0.33 were selected and two nominal beam cross sections (a) For No.7 deformed bars and larger:
were used: one had no transverse reinforcement over the splice;
Ldb 1:5 db =k 6
the other had No. 3 stirrups spaced 100 mm uniformly
distributed along the region of constant moment. (b) For No.6 deformed bars and smaller:
Flexural cracks were rst noticed at the ends of the splice,
Ldb 1:5 db =:8 k 7
and generally three or more exural cracks developed across
the splice itself. From these cracks, longitudinal splitting grad- where k = the smaller of Cc + Ktr or Cs + Ktr 6 2.5db (in.)
ually developed. For the beams with a known rib orientation, Ktr Atr fyt =1500s:n 6 2db in: 8
the earliest longitudinal cracks appeared directly over the bar
splice. The crack patterns of specimens with stirrups over the where Atr = transverse reinforcing area intercepting the
splice were more abundant than those of specimens without relevant bond splitting cracks, in2. fyt = yield strength of
stirrups. Transverse steel improved bond strength and ductility transverse reinforcement, psi. s = spacing of transverse rein-
of the anchorage. Due to different stress levels developed in the forcement, in. n = number of developing bars conned by
reinforcing bars at failure, the nal maximum crack widths of Atr for the splitting crack pattern considered. Cc = thickness
specimens with stirrups reached twice those without stirrups. of concrete cover measured from extreme ber to center of
The stiffness of silica fume specimens degraded more rapidly bar, in. Cs = smaller of side cover to center of outside bar
than that of plain cement specimen when more pronounced measured along the line through the layer of bars or half the
slippage of bars was found. The bond strength around the center distance of adjacent bars in the layer, in.
bar nominal perimeter was calculated from the following: Gjorv et al. [12] studied the mechanical behavior of the
steelconcrete bond. The pullout strength at four levels of
Utest fs  db =4Ls 4
concrete compressive strength (35, 42, 63 and 84 MPa) was
where: fs: is the steel stress of the spliced bar at failure. db: is the investigated. For these strength levels, three levels of
nominal diameter of the spliced bar. Ls: is the splice length. condensed silica fume (CSF) were used (0%, 8% and 16%)
Bond efciency is dened as the ratio between measured by weight of cement, respectively.
and calculated bond strength for each specimen. Bond ratio The observed effect of CSF may be explained by the
is dened as the ratio between bond efciency of the silica following mechanisms:
fume specimen and the bond efciency of the plain cement
specimen. The bond efciencies of the specimens with silica a- Reduced accumulation of free water at the interface
fume were all less than those of plain cement counterparts. during casting of specimens.
The average bond ratio of silica fume to plain cement ef- b- Reduced preferential orientation of calcium hydroxide
ciency was 0.90 with a standard deviation of 0.05. (CH) crystals at the steel-past transition zone.
The replacement of 10% cement by silica fume could c- Densication of the transition zone due to pozzolanic
increase both the compressive strength and tensile splitting reaction between CH and CSF.
strength by 12% and 23%, respectively. However, greater
tensile strengths of concrete failed to follow the trends of The main objective of this research is to investigate the
increased bond strength expected from the expression of bond between high strength concrete (HSC) and reinforcing
290 A. El-Azab, H.M. Mohamed

bars in splices in beams in terms of exural cracks, deection, 0.295% and 0.424%, respectively. The specimens with no
strains and ultimate loads. splice are referred to as the control specimens.
Group (A): This group consists of four specimens having
Experimental work the same reinforcing ratio 0.295% and casting position
(Bottom) but different in the splice length (0, 20, 30 and 40)
This research is a part of an experimental investigation [13] times bar diameter 10 mm.
which studies bond between high strength concrete (HSC) Group (B): This group consists of four specimens having
and reinforcing bars in splices in beams. The objective of this the same reinforcing ratio 0.295% and casting position (Top)
experimental program is to study the behavior of HSC beams but different in the splice length (0, 20, 30 and 40) times bar
with tension lap splices. Different parameters were considered diameter 10 mm. The main difference between group (A) and
such as casting position, splice length as a factor of the bar (B) is the casting position.
diameter, bar diameters and reinforcement ratio. The effect Group (C): This group consists of four specimens similar to
of these parameters on exural capacity, crack pattern and those in group (A) except using bar diameter 12 mm instead of
crack propagation and mode of failure was observed during 10 mm.
testing. Group (D): This group consists of four specimens similar to
Tests were carried out on sixteen simply-supported rein- those in group (C) except using reinforcing ratio 0.424%
forced concrete beams, which were subjected to incremental instead of 0.295%.
load up to failure.
Materials
Test specimens The concrete mixtures used to cast the specimens were devel-
oped by trial batching in the concrete research laboratory at
In the experimental program, tests were carried out on sixteen Cairo university. One mix was used through casting and was
high strength concrete beams reinforced with high grade steel designed to develop cube strength of 75 N/mm2. Table 2 shows
bars spliced-if any- in the constant moment region and de- the weights required to cast one cubic meter of concrete.
signed to start failure in tension zone (under reinforced
sections). Test procedure
All the tested beams had 200 mm 400 mm cross-section Static hydraulic loading jack with an electrical load cell was
and 1800 mm clear span. The beams were simply supported used to apply the vertical load. A digital load indicator of
and subjected to two concentrated static loads (four node (1 kN) accuracy was used to measure the applied load.
testing). Each beam was centered on the testing machine. Loads
The details of the tested beams are shown in Table 1 and were applied of specimens with load increment of 1 ton.
Fig. 1. A three-part notation system was used to indicate the Fig. 2 shows a photograph for the test instrumentation and
variables of each beam. The rst part of the notation indicates Fig. 3 shows a schematic view of the test setup. Specimens
the casting position: B and T for bottom and top casting casts in a top casting position were turned upside down before
respectively. The second part indicates the splice length as a being placed in the test frame.
factor of the bar diameter with two different bar diameters: At every load increment, the cracks were observed and
LM N for splice length of M times bar diameter and N is marked and readings were taken for deection and steel strain.
the diameter of reinforcement bar. The third part is the rein- Failure was considered to occur when the load could not be
forcement ratio: R.295 and R.424 for AS/(b d) equal to increased further.

Table 1 Details of tested beams.

Group No. Specimen designation Casting position Splice length Rft. bar diameter (mm) Rft. ratio (%)
A 1 B-L0x10-R.295 Bottom 10 0.295
2 B-L20x10-R.295 Bottom 20 U 10 0.295
3 B-L30x10-R.295 Bottom 30 U 10 0.295
4 B-L40x10-R.295 Bottom 40 U 10 0.295
B 5 T-L0x10-R.295 Top 10 0.295
6 T-L20x10-R.295 Top 20 U 10 0.295
7 T-L30x10-R.295 Top 30 U 10 0.295
8 T-L40x10-R.295 Top 40 U 10 0.295
C 9 B-L0x12-R.295 Bottom 12 0.295
10 B-L20x12-R.295 Bottom 20 U 12 0.295
11 B-L30x12-R.295 Bottom 30 U 12 0.295
12 B-L40x12-R.295 Bottom 40 U 12 0.295
D 13 B-L0x12-R.424 Bottom 12 0.424
14 B-L20x12-R.424 Bottom 20 U 12 0.424
15 B-L30x12-R.424 Bottom 30 U 12 0.424
16 B-L40x12-R.424 Bottom 40 U 12 0.424
Effect of tension lap splice on the behavior of high strength concrete 291

Fig. 1 Typical reinforcement details and concrete dimensions for all specimens.

Table 2 Design of the concrete mix (per m3). The steel strains at mid-span were measured using 100 mm
gauge length for one deformed bar in the splice region.
Material Weight (kN) All measured values of deection, load and steel strain had
Coarse aggregate (Gravel) 10.80 been continuously monitored through controlled data acquisi-
Fine aggregate (Sand) 5.40 tion system. All test records were automatically saved on com-
Cement 6.00 puter le for further data manipulation and plotting.
Water 1.80
Silica fume 1.20
Superplasticizer (Sikament R2002) 0.22 Test results

The design parameters taken into consideration include casting

The deections were measured at mid-span by a dial gauge position, splice length as a factor of the bar diameter with two
of 0.01 mm accuracy (LVDT instrument). The crack propaga- different bar diameters, and reinforcement ratios. Effect of the
tion was plotted on the concrete beams during loading. studied parameters on the splice length in high strength
292 A. El-Azab, H.M. Mohamed

prevents splitting cracks to occur. No longitudinal cracks were

observed for beams with splice length 40 times bar diameter
except beam with top casting position. It was also noticed that
bar diameter and reinforcement ratio had no effect on either
crack pattern or failure mode except that for reinforcement ra-
tio of 0.424%, there was splitting crack for splice length
30 times bar diameter on contrary for reinforcement ratio
0.295% for the same splice length.

Cracking and failure loads

The cracking load (Pcr) for all specimens was recorded at the
observation of the rst crack. The failure load (Pu) which is
the load at which the specimens could not carry any additional
load was also recorded. Table 3 gives the cracking load (Pcr)
and the failure load (Pu) for each specimen.
Fig. 2 Test instrumentation. It was noticed that the average cracking load for group
(A) (Bottom Casting) was larger than the average cracking
load for group (B) (Top Casting) by 23%. Also the average
ultimate load for group (A) is larger than the average ulti-
mate load for group (B) by 68%. The reason in increasing
the crack load and the ultimate load could be due to a slight
reduction in the strength of the cement paste and the split-
ting tensile strength of concrete cover for top casting
specimen.
Fig. 5 shows the average cracking and ultimate loads for
specimens having 0, 20, 30 and 40 times bar diameter. It was
noticed that the cracking load increased by 56%, 56% and
34% when the splice length became 20, 30 and 40, respectively
compared with the control specimen (without splice). Also the
ultimate load increased for the splice length 40 times bar
diameter by 3%. The previous could be explained as the
Fig. 3 A schematic view of test arrangement. spliced reinforcement is effectively larger than that outside
the splice region. It is also noticed that ultimate load decreased
concrete beams will be discussed. Also the effect of changing for splice length 20 times bar diameter by 32% compared with
parameters on the following results is presented: the ultimate load for the control specimen because of the effect
of splitting cracks cover spalling on the splice resistance mech-
1. Crack propagation, crack pattern, and failure mode. anism. Also the ultimate load decreased for the splice length of
2. Cracking load and ultimate failure load. 30 times bar diameter by 14%. This decrease in ultimate load
3. Loaddeection relationship. for splices 20 and 30 times bar diameter is due to longitudinal
4. Equivalent uniform bond stress. splitting crack failure.
5. Ductility measure, stiffness measure, and strength measure. The results show that the average cracking load for group
(A) (bar diameter 10 mm) is approximately equal to the
Cracking pattern and mode of failure average cracking load for group (C) (bar diameter 12 mm).
Also the average ultimate load for group (A) is larger than
the average ultimate load for group (C) by 60%. The previous
Fig. 4 shows the crack pattern at failure mode for each speci-
point could be explained as the use of small bar diameter with
men. At different load levels top cast beams showed greater
the same reinforcement ratio reduces the average crack width
average crack width than bottom cast beams for the same
(crack control).
splice length, bar diameter, and reinforcement ratio. This is be-
It is noticed that the average cracking load for group (C)
cause of bleeding of concrete which made lower quality con-
(reinforcement ratio 0.295%) was larger than the average
crete underneath the reinforcement in the splice region.
cracking load for group (D) (reinforcement ratio 0.424%) by
There were longitudinal cracks observed in top cast beams
12.5%. However, the average ultimate load varied by 2% only.
for all splice lengths (20, 30 and 40 times bar diameter).
For specimen (T-L20x10-R.295) failure occurred due to
longitudinal splitting crack formed in the bottom cover on Loaddeection relationship
the tension side directly below the splice region and it was sud-
den and brittle. For specimens with bottom cast position, there As shown in Figs. 69, group (A) (bottom casting position)
were no longitudinal cracks observed except specimen with had larger stiffness compared with group (B) (top casting
splice length 20 times bar diameter. position). This is due to a slight reduction in the strength of
It was noticed that splice length had no effect on both crack the cement paste and the splitting tensile strength of concrete
pattern and failure mode except that increasing splice length cover for top casting position.
Effect of tension lap splice on the behavior of high strength concrete 293

Crack Pattern of B-L0X10 R0.295 Crack Pattern of B-L20X10 R0.295

Crack Pattern of B-L30X10 R0.295 Crack Pattern of B-L40X10 R0.295

Crack Pattern of T-L0X10 R0.295 Crack Pattern of T-L20X10 R0.295

Crack Pattern of T-L30X10 R0.295 Crack Pattern of T-L40X10 R0.295

Crack Pattern of B-L0X12 R0.295 Crack Pattern of B-L20X12 R0.295

Crack Pattern of B-L30X12 R0.295 Crack Pattern of B-L40X12 R0.295

Crack Pattern of B-L0X12 R0. 424 Crack Pattern of B-L20X12 R0. 424

Crack Pattern of B-L30X12 R0. 424 Cover Spooling of B-L40X12 R0. 424

Crack Pattern of B-L40X12 R0. 424

Fig. 4 Crack pattern and failure mode for tested specimens.

294 A. El-Azab, H.M. Mohamed

Table 3 Cracking and failure loads.

Specimen Cracking load (kN) Failure load (kN) Specimen Cracking load (kN) Failure load (kN)
B-L0x10-R.295 60 270 B-L0x12-R.295 80 233
B-L20x10-R.295 180 500 B-L20x12-R.295 90 153
B-L30x10-R.295 90 305 B-L30x12-R.295 90 230
B-L40x10-R.295 40 298 B-L40x12-R.295 100 243
T-L0x10-R.295 40 203 B-L0x12-R.424 50 305
T-L20x10-R.295 80 188 B-L20x12-R.424 100 173
T-L30x10-R.295 100 223 B-L30x12-R.424 80 95
T-L40x10-R.295 80 200 B-L40x12-R.424 90 300

300
253 260
250
216
Cracking Load (KN)
200 171 Failure Load (KN)
Load (KN)

150
90 90
100 78
58
50

0 Splice Length
0 20D 30D 40D

Fig. 5 Effect of splice length on cracking and ultimate loads.

As shown in Figs. 1013, group (A) (bar diameter 10 mm)

had larger stiffness compared with group (C) (bar diameter
12 mm) for the same reinforcement ratio 0.295%. This is due Fig. 6 Load deection curve of beams without splice for group
to decrease of crack width as the bar diameter decreases for (A) and (B).
the same reinforcement ratio.
As shown in Figs. 1417, for splice length 0 and 40 times
bar diameter, group (D) (reinforcement ratio 0.424%) had
larger stiffness compared with group (C) (reinforcement ratio
0.295%). For splice length 20 times bar diameter, group (D)
and group (C) had the same load deection curve and did
not have ductile behavior. For splice length of 30 times bar
diameter, group (C) had higher ductile behavior when
compared to group (D).

Ductility measure, stiffness measure, and strength measure

The ductility measure (D) is dened as the ratio of the central

deection at the maximum load of the tested specimen to that
of the specimen without tension lap splice.
The stiffness measure (S) is dened as the ratio of the initial
slope in the loaddeection curve for the tested specimen to
that for the reference specimen without splice.
Fig. 7 Load deection curve of beams with splice length 20 U for
The strength measure (K) is dened as the ultimate load of
group (A) and (B).
the tested specimen to that for the reference specimen without
splice.
The summary of the results is given in Table 4. The results
include the ductility measure D, the stiffness measure S, and and 10% for splice length 20, 30 and 40 times bar diameter
the strength measure K. respectively.
It can be noticed that the use of different casting posi- It was noticed that the ductility increased by increasing the
tions (bottom and top casting position) had no effect on splice length where an average ductility measure is 0.14, 0.34
the ductility. However, the initial stiffness is reduced for and 0.86 for 20, 30 and 40 times bar diameter respectively.
top casting position by 75% and 19% for 40 and 20 times The initial stiffness for splice length 20 and 30 times bar diam-
bar diameter respectively. Group (B) (top casting position) eter was approximately equal but the initial stiffness for splice
had strength measure less than group (A) by 50%, 3% length 40 times bar diameter was increased by about 100% in
Effect of tension lap splice on the behavior of high strength concrete 295

Fig. 8 Load deection curve of beams with splice length 30 U for Fig. 11 Load deection curve of beams with splice length 20 U
group (A) and (B). for group (A) and (C).

Fig. 9 Load deection curve of beams with splice length 40 U for Fig. 12 Load deection curve of beams with splice length 30 U
group (A) and (B). for group (A) and (C).

Fig. 10 Load deection curve of beams without splice for group Fig. 13 Load deection curve of beams with splice length 40 U
(A) and (C). for group (A) and (C).
296 A. El-Azab, H.M. Mohamed

Fig. 14 Load deection curve of beams without splice for group Fig. 16 Load deection curve of beams with splice length 30 U
(C) and (D). for group (C) and (D).

Fig. 15 Load deection curve of beams with splice length 20 U Fig. 17 Load deection curve of beams with splice length 40 U
for group (C) and (D). for group (C) and (D).

Table 4 Ductility, stiffness, and strength measures.

Group No. Specimen designation D S K
A 1 B-L0x10-R.295 1.00 1.00 1.00
2 B-L20x10-R.295 0.08 0.74 1.85
3 B-L30x10-R.295 0.50 0.25 1.13
4 B-L40x10-R.295 0.83 3.01 1.10
B 5 T-L0x10-R.295 1.00 1.00 1.00
6 T-L20x10-R.295 0.24 0.60 0.93
7 T-L30x10-R.295 0.18 1.20 1.10
8 T-L40x10-R.295 0.85 0.80 0.99
C 9 B-L0x12-R.295 1.00 1.00 1.00
10 B-L20x12-R.295 0.12 1.42 0.66
11 B-L30x12-R.295 0.50 1.62 0.99
12 B-L40x12-R.295 1.03 3.04 1.04
D 13 B-L0x12-R.424 1.00 1.00 1.00
14 B-L20x12-R.424 0.13 1.33 0.57
15 B-L30x12-R.424 0.18 0.50 0.31
16 B-L40x12-R.424 0.73 1.11 0.98
Effect of tension lap splice on the behavior of high strength concrete 297

average. It can be noticed that the use of different lengths of Conict of interest
tension lap splice have a minor effect on the strength. It can
be noticed also that the use of different bar diameters had None.
no effect on the ductility. The initial stiffness for bar diameter
12 mm (group C) was larger than those of bar diameter 10 mm
(group A) by 52% in average. However, the strength measure References
for bar diameter 10 mm (group A) was larger than the strength
[1] Asfahani M. Reza, Rangan B. Vijaya, Bond between normal
for bar diameter 12 mm (group C) by 52% in average for the
strength, high strength concrete (HSC) and reinforcing bars in
same splice length. splices in beams, ACI Struct. J. 95 (1998) 272280.
The beams in group (C) (reinforcement ratio 0.295%) are [2] C.O. Orangun, J.O. Jirsa, J.E. Breen, A reevaluation of test data
more ductile than those of group (D) (reinforcement ratio on development length and splices, in: Proc. ACI J. 74 (1977)
0.424%) where average ductility measure for group (C) is 114122.
0.55 but for group (D) it is 0.35. The initial stiffness for group [3] H. Mostafa, Flexural capacity of high strength ber reinforced
(C) was more than group (D) by 6%, 69% and 63% for splice concrete simple beams with tension lap splices, Eng. Res. J. 108
length 20, 30 and 40 times bar diameter respectively. Also, the (2006) (Faculty of Engineering Mataria, Helwan University).
strength measure was increased by 45% in average. [4] A.M. Farahat, Innovative system for the enhancement of
tension lap splice in reinforced concrete beams, J. Egypt. Soc.
Eng. 42 (2003) 311.
Conclusions [5] S. Hamad Bilal, S. ItaniMaher, Bond strength of reinforcement
in high-performance concrete: the role of silica fume, casting
position and super plasticizer dosage, ACI Mater. J. 95 (1998)
Based on comparison of modes of failure, cracking, ultimate 499511.
loads and loaddeection curves of HSC beams with spliced [6] ACI Committee 318, Proposed revisions to building code
bars in the constant moment region tested in this study, the requirements for reinforced concrete (ACI 31889) (Revised,
following conclusions can be made: and Commentary-ACI 318R89 (Revised 1992), Concrete Int.
1994 (16) (1992) 76128.
(1) The development length required achieving bond stress [7] ACI Committee 318, Building code requirements for reinforced
between tension deformed steel and HSC should be concrete and commentary (ACI 31895/ACI 318R95),
American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, Mich., 1995.
larger than 30 times bar diameter for concrete having
[8] ACI Committee 408, Suggested development, splice, and
strength between 65 and 93 N/mm2.
standard hook provisions for deformed bars in tension (ACI
(2) At different load levels top cast beams showed greater 408.1R-90), American Concrete Institute, Detroit, 1990, p. 3.
average crack width than bottom cast beams for the [9] ACI Committee 318, Development of bars in tension,
same splice length, bar diameter, and reinforcement subcommittee B. Code change CB-23, draft document issued
ratio. for review purposes, American Concrete Institute, Detroit, 1992,
(3) Splice length, bar diameter, and reinforcement ratio had p. 3.
no effect on both crack pattern and failure mode. [10] N.H. Olsen, Strength of lapped splices in high strength concrete.
(4) Bottom casting position has higher cracking and ulti- Utilization of high strength concrete, in: Second International
mate load compared to top casting position. Symposium 121 (1990), pp. 179193. American Concrete
Institute, Detroit.
(5) The splice length up to 30 times bar diameter decreased
[11] S. Hwang, Y. Lee, C. Lee, Effect of silica fume on the splice
the moment capacity of beam. The splice length of
strength of deformed bars of high-performance concrete, ACI
40 times bar diameter results in the same capacity of Struct. J. 91 (1994) 294302.
the beam without any splice. [12] O.E. Gjorv, P.J.M. Monteiro, P.K. Mehta, Effect of condensed
(6) Bottom casting position leads to larger beam stiffness silica fume on the steelconcrete bond, ACI Mater. J. 87 (1990)
than top casting position. No effect on the ductility 573580.
was noticed due to changing the casting position. [13] A. Ahmed. Effect of tension lap splice on the behavior of high
(7) The ductility is increased by increasing the splice length. strength concrete (HSC) beams, (M.Sc. thesis) 1990, Faculty of
(8) Different bar diameters have no effect on the ductility. Engineering, Cairo University.