Author(s)

Nawab Ali Lakho, Muhammad Auchar Zardari^*

Department of Civil Engineering, Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering, Science and Technology, Nawabshah, Pakistan.

Construction of Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) houses is unaffordable for low income people living in plains of Pakistan because of high cost of cement and aggregates. In such regions, use of Reinforced Baked Clay (RBC) is considered to be a cheaper alternative for RCC. This paper presents structural behaviour of RBC beams. The results of RBC beams were compared with a control RCC beam of same size and reinforcement. Both types of the beams showed similar load deflection behaviour in pre-yield stage. Whereas, in post yield stage, the RBC beams showed comparatively more deflection as compared to the RCC beam. The ultimate load carrying capacity of the RBC beams was almost similar to that of the RCC beam. This study suggests that the RBC beams can be used economically instead of RCC beams without losing strength and safety of a building.

Reinforced Baked Clay, Ultimate Load, Deflection, Low Cost, Compressive Strength

Lakho, N. and Zardari, M. (2016) Flexural Behaviour of Reinforced Baked Clay Beams. Engineering, 8, 403-409. doi: 10.4236/eng.2016.87037.