Flexural and shear behavior of steel fiber reinforced SCC beams

Abstract

This paper deals with the effect of steel fiber reinforcement on the behavior of Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) beams. Bending tests were carried out to examine the effect of low fiber content (0.25% by volume) on the flexural behavior of beams with different amounts of steel rebar reinforcement. The study compares the behavior of reinforced concrete beams cast either with control SCC and the one of Fiber-Reinforced Self-Compacting Concrete (FRSCC). Fibers used were made of stainless amorphous metal. Their influence was studied through the global and local mechanical responses of the beams. The results show that fiber reinforcement allows the control of cracking to be improved. Yielding, ductility and load bearing capacity are not modified by the fiber reinforcement; its effects are limited to the kinetics and distribution of cracks. If it was observed that the used fiber content reduced stresses in the stirrups, they could not be considered as a solution to replace stirrups. However, their ability to transfer tensile stress through a crack provided greater beam stiffness, notably with a low steel bar reinforcement ratio. It was concluded that stainless steel fiber reinforcement is a suitable solution to control crack width in reinforced concrete elements in aggressive environments with respect to the limitations imposed by design codes such as the European code Eurocode 2.