Comparison between Composite Beam of Limestone and Basalt Concrete

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of limestone and basalt content in steel-concrete composite beams. An experimental program is set up to test the effect of basalt content on the behavior of composite beams. The properties measured in this research are the deflection of the composite beams, bonding between steel and concrete, compressive strength, flexural strength and load-strain curves for both negative and positive strain. In addition, theoretical analysis or comparison was conducted to validate experimental results. The results show significant improvement in composite beams rigidity and strength as the percentage of basalt increases in the composite beam. Deflection decreased by about 36% to 51%, bond stress increased by 28% to 63%, compressive strength increased significantly from 9% to 43% and flexural strength of the composite beam increased from 5% to 23 when the percentage of basalt was increased from 0 to 100%. The negative strain in compression in the top fiber decreased from 56% to 26% as basalt percentage was increased from 0% to 100%. However, the positive strain in tension for the bottom fiber also decreased from 43% to 17%. Validation of results through theoretical computation was conducted for comparison purposes. It was determined that composite beams were stiffer than limestone in most cases.