Behavior of Waste Glass Powder in Concrete Deep Beams with Web Openings

Waste Glass Powder (WGP) could be used as a cement replacement additive to manufacture concrete and solving the problem of environmental pollution. The experimental program was made up of ten simply supported reinforced High-Strength Concrete (HSC) deep beams tested under static loadings. Five beams were with WGP, while the other five beams were without WGP. Eight beams had web openings while two reference beams were without openings. The principal studied parameters were the effect of using WGP, and the location and size of web openings. Using the three-dimensional finite element computer program ABAQUS, a numerical simulation for comparing the shear strength and behavior of tested deep beams has been suggested. The comparison between experimental failure loads of studied beams with that estimated by the Strut-and-Tie model was carried out. Three codes of practice were used to make this comparison: the American Concrete Institute (ACI 318-19), the New Zealand Code (NZS-06), and the Japan Society of Civil Engineering (JSCE-07). The results showed that using WGP in similar deep beams with web openings enhances the cracking shear strength (by about 17–25%) and the ultimate shear strength (by about 12–41%). The improvement in the ultimate failure load could be attributed to the developed concrete microstructures caused by WGP’s very fine grains, producing further gel, and decreasing the number of voids in the concrete matrix. The suggested finite element simulation accurately predicts the behavior of HSC deep beams with and without WGP beams and with web openings.