Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) demonstrates significant application potential in beam-type components due to its exceptional mechanical properties, durability, and environmental benefits. However, its high material cost often leads to the perception that UHPC structures are not cost-effective, which hinders their widespread adoption in engineering projects. Existing research primarily focuses on optimizing the mechanical performance of UHPC components, but there is a lack of systematic evaluation of their cost-effectiveness in flexure. To address this gap, this study establishes a comprehensive evaluation system for the flexural cost-effectiveness of beam-type components, aiming to provide theoretical support for the rational design and engineering application of UHPC structures.The research centers on "performance" and "cost" to propose an evaluation index for flexural cost-effectiveness. The ultimate moment is selected to characterize flexural performance, while the material cost per unit length of the pure bending segment represents the economic cost, thereby establishing a cost-effectiveness index. Using the classical reference method, with conventionally reinforced rectangular beams under reinforced sections as the reference, the range standardization method is applied to dimensionless the cost-effectiveness index. Furthermore, probability theory and the K-means clustering algorithm are employed to classify the flexural cost-effectiveness into grades, ensuring scientific rigor and objectivity.The proposed system was applied to compare and analyze the differences in flexural cost-effectiveness between common beam-type components and UHPC beam-type components. The results indicate that the flexural cost-effectiveness of reinforced concrete beams is independent of the beam width but shows a positive correlation with the beam height and the strength grade of the materials. During design, priority should be given to using higher-strength concrete paired with higher-strength reinforcement, and prestressed steel strands can be considered as a replacement for tensile reinforcement. Simply replacing ordinary concrete with UHPC in new components does not yield high flexural cost-effectiveness. However, designing based on the mechanical characteristics of UHPC and other building materials can lead to component forms with relatively high flexural cost-effectiveness.
FAN Xueming, YE Xiaohang, ZHOU Xiaopeng, et al
.
Research and Application of Flexural
Cost-Effective Evaluation System for UHPC Beam Components
[J]. Journal of South China University of Technology(Natural Science), 0
: 1
.
DOI: 10.12141/j.issn.1000-565X.250163
