Abstract
Improvement in fracture behaviour of fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC) due to the inclusion of various types and combinations of fibres is widely reported. The fracture behaviour of FRC needs to be fully understood for the optimum use of these fibres in structural elements. Fracture behaviours of synthetic fibre-reinforced concrete (SynFRC), hybrid fibre-reinforced concrete (HFRC) and steel fibre-reinforced concrete (SFRC) are investigated in this study using digital image correlation (DIC) technique. This work focuses on improvement in the structural performance of FRC through a comprehensive study of the change in the crack length, crack opening and fracture process zone (FPZ) due to different fibres addition and their combinations. Three distinct fibre dosages of 0.50%, 0.75%, and 1.00%, of macro-polyolefin fibres, hooked end steel fibres and their hybrid combination are regarded as research parameters. Test outcomes indicate that HFRC offers higher post-cracking resistance when compared to SynFRC. SFRC showcases superior fracture performance than that of HFRC and SynFRC. Full-field strain measurements from DIC are used to measure the crack openings at different load levels during the fracture tests. Results of DIC analysis show good agreement with experimental measurements. Continuous monitoring of strain contours using DIC reveals the effective engagement of fibres along the depth at higher dosages for HFRC when compared to that of SynFRC. Also, HFRC had longer cracks than SFRC at a particular load.
Highlights
The fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC) is being used in the construction industry widely across the globe due to its superior mechanical properties, including ductile nature
Though past research has focused on synthetic fibrereinforced concrete (SynFRC), still few limitations exist on the development of design guidelines because the number of fibres at the cracked plane and their orientation across the cracked plane cannot be accurately predicted
This study focuses on the use of digital image correlation (DIC) technique to understand the fracture behaviour
Summary
The fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC) is being used in the construction industry widely across the globe due to its superior mechanical properties, including ductile nature. Disadvantages of SFRC have obliged additional investigation towards the full or partial substitution of steel fibres with non-corrosive synthetic fibres Synthetic fibres such as polyolefin-based macrosynthetic fibre types can solve the issues of reduced workability of FRC and corrosion without significantly compromising the structural performance. In SynFRC, the resisting load drops significantly, soon after the peak load and starts to increase at higher displacement (Oh et al 2007) This load drop in SFRC is much lesser when compared to SynFRC. Alberti et al (2015) compared the residual strengths of SFRC and SynFRC in fracture behaviour tests
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