The mechanism of failure of structural lightweight concrete infill of IBS blocks subjected to flexural

Abstract

Currently there is a strong inclination of the Malaysian construction industry to utilize industrialized building system (IBS) of lightweight concrete material. The use of lightweight material has the potential to offset the high cost of production and transportation of IBS components of normal dense concrete material. This research presents an experimental contacted testing on the mechanism of failure of structural lightweight concrete infill of IBS block-works subjected to flexural. Full-scale experimental push-out test frames were erected to investigate the ultimate behavior of lightweight concrete beams and blocks. The setup frame consists of lightweight beams supported at both ends with IBS lightweight infill blocks. Numerous dimensions and shapes of the lightweight IBS blocks were tested. Each lightweight IBS blocks were designed based on readily available steel formwork and proper means of fixing and assembling each IBS blocks to form a complete a full height lightweight panel. Push-out load (flexural load) is then applied up to failure to determine the behavior of the IBS panel due to incremental loading. The deflection, crack pattern, splitting strength, tensile strength and ultimate compressive strengths of the IBS blocks are recorded and compared with the results obtained with a similar panel of normal concrete in-fill.