Observations:

Crack width:

Reference beam:
Table x shows the values of crack width with change in steel stress in the
reference beam. A plot of crack width vs stress in tension steel is shown in
the figure below:

i.

ii.

Initially, a hairline crack was observed in the beam at a load of

65kNbelow the point of loading in the beam. The crack originated near
the soffit of the beam and later propagated upwards vertically implying
that it was a flexural crack.

Cold formed :
Table x1 shows the values of crack width with change in steel stress in the
beam with cold formed steel section attached to it. A plot of crack width vs
stress in tension steel is shown in the figure x below:

i.

ii.

iii.

The first crack in this beam was observed at a load of 70kN below the loading
point of the beam. this crack started at the soffit of the beam and propagated
vertically upwards and reached the neutral axis when the applied load was
200 kN. the crack width upto this point (200 kN) was fairly linear with a mild
slope ( between points 1 and 2 in figure x above). When the load was
increased beyond 200kN, there was a considerable increase in the crack
width as reflected by the steepness of the curve in figure x. this change in
slope can be attributed to the fact that the bond stress between concrete and
reinforcing steel bars has exceeded its limiting value. At failure, this crack
had propagated to a distance of 110 mm from top of the beam.
Around a load of 80 kN, cracks similar to the first crack were observed in the
central zone of the beam. The crack width in this section could not be
determined due to the inadequate testing facility. The propagation pattern of
these cracks followed a trend similar to the first crack(below loading point).
Around a load of 210 kN, a fine shear crack originated close to the neutral
axis of the beam near the right support( point F) . with increase in load upto
250kN , this crack propagated diagonally towards the support without any
noteworthy increase in crack width. At this load, a flexural crack started
originating at the end of the cold formed section in the concrete beam and
joined the diagonal crack. with further increase in load, the diagonal crack
started widening with small increase in its length towards the top of the
beam. Finally, the crack width increased considerably leading to bearing
failure in the beam. The flexural crack that originated at the end of the cold
formed section, maybe due to the loss of bond between concrete and
embedded bolts ( pullout of bolts ), the zone attracting maximum shear force.