Shear behavior of RC composite beams with HDC permanent formwork: Experimental study and PINN-based prediction

Abstract

To realize the industrialization of construction and fill the gap in the shear performance research of reinforced concrete (RC) composite beams with high-ductility concrete (HDC) permanent formwork, this paper investigated the shear behaviors of ones. Eight beams, comprising one control beam and seven RC composite beams with HDC permanent formwork, underwent four-point flexural loading. The variable parameters were the type of formwork, space of the transverse bar, and shear-span ratio. The influences of these factors on the failure mode, load-deflection response, energy absorption capacity, and strain were discussed in this paper. The results indicated that the HDC permanent formwork can significantly enhanced the load-bearing capacity, ultimate deformation, and energy absorption capacity of the RC composite beams with HDC permanent formwork. Compared to the control beams, the improvements in load-bearing capacity, ultimate deflection, and energy absorption capacity are in the ranges of 2.1 %-15.3 %, 15.2 %-48.5 %, and 32.1 %-83.3 %, respectively. Installing carbon textile grids in the HDC permanent formwork can further enhance the load-bearing capacity and ultimate deformation of the RC composite beams with HDC permanent formwork. The effectiveness of the HDC permanent formwork to the shear-resistant capacity, deformability, and energy absorption capacity of the RC composite beams with HDC permanent formwork was more obvious at the high shear-to-span ratio and space of the transverse bar. Finally, based on the Guo et al. model, a Physics Informed Neural Network (PINN) model was set up, trained, verified, tested, and interpreted to predict the shear-resistance capacity of RC composite beams with HDC permanent formwork. The MSE, MAE, and R² of the testing dataset were 193.24, 9.72, and 0.98, respectively. This proved that the established PINN model was more accurate and reliable.