Stress-strain relationships for steel fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete

Abstract

Steel fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFRSCC) is a relatively new composite material which congregates the benefits of self-compacting concrete (SCC) technology with the profits derived from the fiber addition to a brittle cementitious matrix. Steel fibers improve many of the properties of SCC elements including tensile strength, toughness, energy absorption capacity and fracture toughness. Modification in the mix design of SCC may have a significant influence on the SFRSCC mechanical properties. Therefore, it is vital to investigate whether all of the assumed hypotheses for steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) are also valid for SFRSCC structures. Although available research regarding the influence of steel fibers on the properties of SFRSCC is limited, this paper investigates material's mechanical properties. The present study includes: a) evaluation and comparison of the current analytical models used for estimating the mechanical properties of SFRSCC and SFRC, b) proposing new relationships for SFRSCC mixtures mechanical properties. The investigated mechanical properties are based on the available experimental results and include: compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, strain at peak compressive strength, tensile strength, and compressive and tensile stress-strain curves.