Investigation of orientation coefficient on meso-damage evolution of steel fiber-reinforced cement composites

Abstract

The average orientation coefficient of steel fiber is an important factor to characterize the influence of fiber comprehensive orientation on concrete performance. A 2D finite element model of steel fiber-reinforced cement composite (SFRCC) composed of steel fiber, cement mortar, and the interface transition zone was established based on the parametric language, and the whole process of uniaxial tensile failure of SFRCC under different average orientation coefficients was simulated to explore the influence of the average orientation coefficient of steel fiber on SFRCC damage and cracking in a mesoscopic scale. Among them, the random mechanical characteristic model and bilinear damage constitutive model were used to analyze the meso-damage cracking of the specimen. Results showed that the tensile strength of concrete increased with the average orientation coefficient; the crack resistance and toughening effect of steel fiber on concrete were also enhanced, which further revealed the damage mechanism of SFRCC under uniaxial tension.