Concrete has amazing compressive strength but poor tensile strength.
Compressive strength resists compression “being pushed together”, whereas Tensile strength resists tension “being pulled apart”.
I made two concrete beams.
One reinforced with 3- 1/2” pieces of rebar, and one with no reinforcement.
Driving on the unreinforced beam that’s supported by the ground causes no damage because it has good compressive strength.
However, when I suspend both ends of the beam it creates tensile stress on the bottom causing the block with no reinforcement to break under the weight of the Jeep.
Next let’s try the beam with the rebar, this time I used my much heavier F250.
The rebar dramatically improves tensile strength.
Now for the ultimate test- can the reinforced beam support this massive roller?
It chipped a little off the side, but the beam held up.
Finally, I drove on it one more time and turned on the vibratory- this proved to be too much even with the rebar.
This shows how important it is to reinforce concrete.
This concrete was still green- Let me know in the comments how many days you think it was allow to cure after it had been poured. @hausplans
#build #howto #reinforce #concrete #construction #diy #contractor
