Investigation of Aramid Fibers Compared with Steel Fiber on Bending Behavior of Hybrid RC Beams

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental study on bending behavior of aramid and steel fiber reinforced concrete (AFRC and SFRC) members. The objective is to investigate effects of two types of aramid fiber and one type of steel fiber in hybrid reinforced concrete (RC) beams. The term hybrid beam is defined as the beam with fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) cast in tension zone and normal concrete (without fiber) cast in compression zone of the beam. The diameter of aramid fiber (AF) is 0.5mm and the surface condition is twist fiber consisting of two single fibers. The fiber lengths are 30mm and 40mm for two types of aramid fiber. The diameter of steel fiber (SF) is 0.6mm and the length is 33mm with hooked ends. Four reinforced concrete (RC) beams with a dimension of 150×200×2100 mm3 were designed to undergo flexural failure. All the tested beams are with the same reinforcement ratio (0.93%), having a fiber volume fraction (Vf) of 1% for each type of fiber. One RC beam without fiber was prepared and tested as a controlled specimen. The height of the FRC tension zone at ultimate state was calculated to be 170mm. Load capacity, average and maximum crack widths of hybrid aramid and steel fiber reinforced concrete beams (HAFRCs & HSFRC) under four-point bending tests were discussed.