Effect of Steel Fiber Volume Fraction on the Mechanical Behavior of Ultra-high Performance Concrete Composites

Abstract

In order to investigate the effect of fiber volume fraction on the mechanical behavior of ultra-high performance concrete composites (UHPCC), five different volume fractions of macro steel fibers (Vf = 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5%) are used within identical mortar matrix. Ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) mix was designed to achieve a compressive strength of 155 MPa based on the particle packing method. For 12 series of UHPCC mixes, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength, and modulus of elasticity at 28 days are determined. Test results showed a significant improvement in splitting tensile and flexural strengths of UHPFRC with the addition of steel fibers. The maximum values of compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strengths were 155.39, 17.76, and 32.50 MPa, respectively. Stress-strain behavior of fiber-reinforced concrete composites is studied and elastic modulus values evaluated are in the range of 39.52-47.99 GPa. Empirical expressions are developed based on the test results in terms of fiber volume fraction to predict the 28-day strengths of UHPFRC. Comparing the experimental values of earlier researchers to the ones predicted by empirical equations, the average absolute error (AAE) value obtained is within 5%. The proposed model's predictions are in good agreement with the experimental values. Relationship between compressive and flexure strengths of UHPFRC isdeveloped with R2=0.99 and validated.