Full-scale experimental analysis of the flexural behavior of reinforced soil–cement beams

Soil–cement columns are often used as retaining structures for deep excavations in coastal areas, but they are exposed to significant bending moments due to soil pressure. Because of the low tensile/flexural strength of soilcrete elements, their flexural capacity should be improved with the use of reinforcement. Investigations into the flexural behavior of soilcrete reinforced with steel rebars have not been reported. Moreover, formulation of a framework for the design of reinforced soilcrete (RS) elements has not been documented. In this work, eight full-scale RS beams of size 20 × 25 × 200 cm were experimentally tested to evaluate their flexural behavior. The mechanism of crack propagation and the cracking moments (Mcr) and ultimate moments (Mu) of the RS beams were compared with the results from reinforced concrete (RC) theory. The pattern of crack propagation in the RS beams was found to be similar to that for RC beams. As the theoretical values for Mcr and Mu were similar to the test values, RC formulas could be used in the flexural design of RS elements. The optimal rebar percentage for the RS beams was determined to be 0.5ρb. The best performance was monitored for beams with higher compressive rebar percentages.