Structural behavior of alkali activated fly ash concrete. Part 2: structural testing and experimental findings

Alkali activated fly ash concrete (AAFAC) is an alternative form of concrete that uses coal fly ash as a 100 % replacement for ordinary portland cement (OPC). In this paper structural testing of nine steel reinforced AAFAC beams is explored. The test matrix included three over-reinforced, three under-reinforced, and three shear critical AAFAC beam samples, all tested in four point monotonic bending. For control purposes, an identical set of OPC concrete (OPCC) beams was fabricated and tested under identical conditions. Data collection during testing included load, deflection, top and side fiber concrete strains, and crack width. Test results show that AAFAC beams have very similar behavior to companion OPCC beams. This applies to load induced crack pattern, crack width magnitude, neutral axis location, flexural stiffness, and ultimate flexural and ultimate shear strengths. The research concludes that AAFAC flexural members can be designed using existing ACI 318-08 methods developed for OPCC, and that this applies to both the service and ultimate limit states.