Tension softening diagrams and evaluation of properties of steel fiber reinforced concrete

Abstract

For a better understanding of the fracture behavior of concrete structures, knowledge of the post-cracking behavior of concrete material is essential. The tension softening diagram can describe the post-cracking behavior of concrete in tension. In this paper, the properties of various kinds of steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) were evaluated by means of the tension softening diagrams, after discussion of the applicability of the fictitious crack model to SFRC. The fracture energy of conventional SFRC was independent of the specimen size. For the evaluation of the properties of SFRC with different matrix strength, the shape of the tension softening diagram and the fracture energy were superior to the flexural strength. The fracture energy of SFRC with high strength matrix was dependent on the tensile strength of the steel fiber.