The investigation and estimation of flexural strength in shear-critically designed RC beams considering the steel fiber content

Abstract

Despite numerous studies investigating the effectiveness of steel fibers in RC members subjected to various loading conditions, the majority ignored the impact of the interaction between the tensile reinforcement ratio, compressive strength of fibrous concrete, and steel fiber dosage. This paper aimed to inspect and quantify the effects of hooked-end steel fiber dosage on the bending behavior of RC beams considering the interaction arising from various longitudinal reinforcement ratios. For this purpose, an extensive and hybrid investigation involving both experimental and numerical techniques was conducted. In the experimental part, an investigation was carried out to evaluate the contribution of a specific amount of fiber ratio and various aspect ratios to the behavior of large-scale RC beams having a shear-deficient design. Three beams with a 0.5% hooked-end steel fiber ratio and one without fibers but with a minimum amount of stirrups were produced, and three-point bending tests were conducted. All beams having fibers utilized full flexural strength as in the beam with stirrups. Once the experimental studies were completed, the numerical models were then developed and validated with those of experimental three-point bending tests using the non-linear finite element code VecTor2 to establish a basis for the comprehensive parametric study. The parametric study consisted of 33 analyses. Rebar and volumetric fiber ratios were selected to be variables, and the ratios adopted were within the typical range used in structural engineering applications. Based on the regression analysis a linear and a quadratic model were proposed for estimating the yield and peak strength depending on the steel fiber content. Finally, the obtained models were verified using work from the literature and found to be effective in forecasting the strength of shear-deficient RC beams with 0.8%, 1.0%, and 1.2% tensile reinforcement ratios and hooked end steel fibers (0.5 to 1.5%).