Flexural Strength Behaviour of Apa (Afzeliabipindensis) Reinforced Stabilized Lateritic Soil Beam

Abstract

This paper reports on the flexural strength behaviour of Apa reinforced stabilized lateritic soil beams. The potential of using timber as a reinforcement material is because timber is abundant, cheap and locally available compared to conventional steel. Apa timber possess a tensile strength of 68.34 N/mm2. Experimental and Finite Element Analysis using ANSYS 15 were carried out to determine the flexural strength of Apa reinforced lateritic soil beams. The results showed an increase in the load-bearing capacity with increase in the percentage area of Apa reinforcement used in Lateritic soil beams. BS 8110-1:1997 requires that area of reinforcement for beams should not exceed 4%. At 4 percent area, the flexural strength of the Apa reinforced lateritic soil beams (ALB) was 0.763 N/mm2 with corresponding load capacity of 3.435 kN which is slightly higher than the steel reinforced lateritic soil beams (SLB) of 0.740 N/mm2 with corresponding load capacity of 3.329 kN obtained in the report