Bond behavior of reinforcing bars embedded in concrete made with crushed clay bricks as coarse aggregates

•Bond strength of reinforcing bars embedded in BAC is different than that of reinforcing bars embedded in SAC.•A model equation is proposed to evaluate bond strength of reinforcing bars in BAC.•Effect of parameters on bond strength of reinforcing bars in BAC is investigated. This study investigated the bond behavior between reinforcing bars and brick aggregate concrete (BAC) by testing cylindrical and cubic BAC specimens with design compressive strength values of 20, 25 and 30 MPa. Forty-six direct pull-out tests were conducted to assess the influence of several parameters: bar diameter, bond length, concrete confinement, specimen shape and concrete compressive strength. The effects of these parameters were presented as force-slip relations. The bond strength measurements were compared with predictions from design equations used for stone aggregate concrete (SAC). The results showed that the bond strength measurements were larger than the bond strength predictions from ACI 318 and very close to those from CEB-FIP and AS 3600. Moreover, cubic specimens exhibited larger bond strength than cylindrical specimens due to shorter bar embedment lengths. Furthermore, a comparison between SAC and BAC revealed significant mechanical property differences. Finally, a model equation was proposed using the test results to evaluate the bond strength of reinforcing bars in BAC.