Numerical statistics-based research on the spatial distribution of cylindrical fiber in ideal simulated fiber reinforced concrete matrix

Abstract

The macro properties of fiber reinforced concrete is significantly associated with the spatial distribution of fiber. In this paper, the statistics-based algorithms characterizing fiber spatial distribution including orientation probability, spacing distance and wall effect were proposed based on the established the random generation model of cylindrical fibers in an ideal three-dimensional fiber reinforced concrete matrix. The influence of fiber physical parameters on the overall fiber spatial distribution were statistically analyzed. The results show that the fiber orientation probability in ideal fiber reinforced concrete matrix is almost constant. The fiber geometric size plays an important role on the fiber spatial morphological characteristics, where the fiber spacing distance increases with the fiber length and diameter, and the wall effect is significantly affected by the fiber length. The heterogeneity of fiber distribution characterized by the higher fiber spacing distance in the edge region is associated with the fiber sparsity mainly influenced by the single fiber volume and total fiber fraction. With the constraints of wall effect and principal stress direction, the boundary region parallel to the principal stress has a higher fiber orientation coefficient, while the region perpendicular to principle stress possesses of the lowest coefficient.