Bending performance of reinforced concrete beams with partial waste glass aggregate replacement assessed by experimental, theoretical and digital image correlation analyses

This study examines the usage of waste glass aggregate (WGA) for the consumption of sustainable reinforced concrete regarding the replacement of fine aggregate (FA) and coarse aggregate (CA). For this purpose, a series of tests consisting of a total of 12 beams were carried out to explore the bending performance. The quantity of the longitudinal reinforcement section area and WGA percentage were selected as the prime variables. For this purpose, the aggregate was swapped with WGA with weight percentages of 10% and 20% for the FA and 10% and 20% for coarse aggregate. The test outcomes revealed that the crack and bending properties of the reinforced concrete beams (RCBs) were greatly affected by the section area of tension reinforcement and the percentage of the WGA. The WGA percentage might be effectively used as 20% of the partial replacement of FA. With the addition of FA to the mixture, the load-bearing capacity of RCB increases. The increase in the WGA percentage by more than 10% might cause a considerable reduction in the capacity of the RCBs, especially when the longitudinal reinforcement ratio is high. Furthermore, the digital image correlation method was used to show the cracks/micro-cracks and to define displacement in RCBs.