Experimental investigation of the effects of concrete curing conditions on the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete beams

In this thesis study funded within the scope of the TÜBİTAK 1001 project titled "Experimental Evaluation of Flexural Behaviour of Reinforced Concrete Beams Cast- in Cold (Winter) Weather" with code number 219M403; a total of 6 reinforced concrete beam specimens with the span of 4.5 meters were produced from the same concrete mixture and kept in a constant temperature laboratory environment and summer conditions (in an area open to the atmosphere) and the behaviour of the full-scale reinforced concrete beams under bending effect was examined experimentally and comparatively. The aim of the study is to comparatively evaluate the flexural behaviour of reinforced concrete beams kept under constant temperature after concrete pouring with that of the beams kept under atmospheric weather conditions. As a result of the experimental examination, it was determined that the cracking moments of the reinforced concrete beams kept in the laboratory were ~10-40% higher than the equivalent samples kept under atmospheric conditions; and that there was no significant difference in between the yield moments. It was observed that the reinforced concrete beam samples kept in the laboratory environment showed superior performance compared to the samples kept in atmospheric conditions in terms of initial stiffness, energy absorption capacity, section and element ductility values and crack distribution patterns.