Experimental investigation on steel-concrete bond in lightweight and normal weight concrete

The bonding behaviors of Lightweight Aggregate Concrete (LWAC) and normal weight concrete were investigated experimentally. Pull-out tests were carried out to measure the bond strengths of three groups of specimens with compressive strength levels of 60, 40, and 20 MPa, respectively. Test results showed that the difference in the bond failure pattern between LWAC and normal weight concrete was significant as the concrete compressive strength became lower than 40 MPa. The corresponding bond strengths of LWAC were lower than that for normal weight concrete. As the compressive strength of concrete became relatively high (> 40 MPa), a bond failure pattern in normal weight concrete occurred that was similar to that in LWAC. The bond strength of LWAC is higher than that for normal weight concrete because it possesses higher mortar strength. Stirrup use leads to an increase of approximately 20% in nominal bond strength for both types of concrete at any strength level.