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Artificial lightweight aggregate (ALWA) can be used as a replacement for coarse aggregates to produce low-density lightweight concrete. It can reduce the total weight of structural members, and consequently, the seismic forces on the building can be minimized. When adding a certain amount of fibers to the concrete mixture, the concrete performance can be improved by enhancing bonding between the mortar matrix and aggregates. To find more robust results, the study of combining the ALWA and fibers needs to be investigated. This paper deals with the impact of carpet fiber on flexural strength and failure mode of ALWA concrete. The experimental work was conducted on 150x150x600 mm concrete beams with ALWA aggregates and a 0 to 1% carpet fiber fraction range. The test results show that the optimum flexural strength of the beam improves by 7.15% with a 0.47% carpet fiber addition. In contrast, the specimen's failure mode indicates that it does not happen suddenly, with the deflection quality experiencing a reduction of 24.32% due to the presence of fibers. The results offer valuable information on the progress of lightweight concrete and fiber concrete research, also will contribute to the future research of the ALWA concrete strengthened with fibers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this day and age, a rewarding and new structural strengthening technique for civil structures is steel wire rope (SWR) strengthening. The ideal technique for structural analysis is the finite element method. Nonetheless, it could be an expensive and a challenging task to develop a model through the finite element method for a simple problem, for instance, cross section analysis of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Therefore, in order to predict the flexural behavior of T-section RC beams, strengthened in the negative moment region with bonded steel wire ropes, researchers performed an analytical validation through a program based on the modified compression field theory (MCFT), namely Response-2000. They chose experimental data from the test conducted on three T-section RC beams in 2012. Subsequently, the collected results were compared with calculations from the fiber-elements method, constructed in excel spread sheets. Reasonably precise calculations of load-deflection responses, up to the peak load, were offered by the developed analytical model, however, the ductility of the beams was underestimated. The validated model was then utilized to study the impact of SWR diameter on the behavior of strengthened beams. This analytical investigation reveals the effectiveness of SWR bonded systems as an alternative strengthening technique, with the aim of enhancing the flexural capacity of RC beams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]