Study of temperature effect on macro-synthetic fiber reinforced concretes by means of Barcelona tests: An approach focused on tunnels assessment

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the applicability of the Barcelona (BCN) test to evaluate the mechanical properties of a macro-synthetic fiber reinforced concrete (MSFRC) submitted to high temperature environments (up to 600°C). BCN tests demonstrated that the MSFRC gradually loses tensile strength an energy consumption density with increasing temperature. Temperatures of 400°C and 570°C shown to be critical to the MSFRC mechanical performance. The residual mechanical behavior of the macro-synthetic fibers was not affected by the temperature up to 100°C. For higher temperatures, the reinforcement showed that may lose part of its crystallinity compromising the MSFRC post-cracking performance. The constitutive model used to determine the stress-strain curves of the MSFRC was capable to reproduce the composite behavior after the event of a fire.