Properties of strain hardening ultra high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHP-FRC) under direct tensile loading

Enhanced matrix packing density and tailored fiber-to-matrix interface bond properties have led to the recent development of ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHP-FRC) with improved material tensile performance in terms of strength, ductility and energy absorption capacity. The objective of this research is to experimentally investigate and analyze the uniaxial tensile behavior of the new material. The paper reviews and categorizes a variety of tensile test setups used by other researchers and presents a revised tensile set up tailored to obtain reliable results with minimal preparation effort. The experimental investigation considers three types of steel fibers, each in three different volume fractions. Elastic, strain hardening and softening tensile parameters, such as first cracking stress and strain, elastic and strain hardening modulus, composite strength and energy dissipation capacity, of the UHP-FRCs are characterized, analyzed and linked to the crack pattern observed by microscopic analysis. Models are proposed for representing the tensile stress–strain response of the material.     

Effects of coarser fine aggregate on tensile properties of ultra high performance concrete

This experimental research investigates the mechanical properties and shrinkage of ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) incorporating coarser fine aggregates with maximum particle size of 5 mm. To adequately design UHPC mixtures using various sizes of solid constituents, particle packing theory was adopted. UHPC mixtures containing either dolomite or basalt, and four fiber volume fractions up to two volume percent were investigated. Uniaxial tension test was performed to evaluate the first cracking tensile strength, ultimate tensile strength, tensile strain capacity and cracking pattern. The UHPC mixtures with dolomite and steel fibers with more than one volume percent achieved more than 150 MPa of compressive strength at the age of 56 days, and showed strain hardening behavior and limited decrease in tensile strength compared to typical UHPC without coarser fine aggregates. The experimental results highlight the potential of dolomite used as coarser fine aggregate in UHPC.     

Microstructure variability and macroscopic composite properties of high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composites

High performance fiber reinforced cementitious composites have made major advances in recent years, to the point where they are being adopted in building and bridge constructions. The most significant advantage of HPFRCC over conventional concrete is their high tensile ductility. However, the tensile strain capacity has been observed to vary, most likely as a result of the variability of the microstructure derived from the processing of these materials.This paper describes the composite property variability, as well as the variability of the material microstructure. Scale linkage is discussed. In particular, the tensile stress–strain curves, and the crack pattern on uniaxially loaded specimens are presented. The treatment of random fibers in micromechanical models, and tailoring of matrix flaw size distribution for saturated multiple cracking are examined. It is suggested that robust composite properties can be achieved by deliberate control of microstructure variability. Some open issues concerning the randomness of microstructures and possibly related macroscopic behavior are also identified. Further gains in composite property control may be expected from improvements in characterization and modeling of the microstructure randomness.     

Synergistic response of blending fibers in ultra-high-performance concrete under high rate tensile loads

This study investigated the synergistic tensile response of blending 1% long and 0.5% short steel fibers in ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) at high strain rates of 16–37 s⁻¹. Three ultra-high-performance hybrid-fiber-reinforced concretes (UHP-HFRCs) containing twisted, hooked, or smooth long (30 mm) fibers blended with short (13 mm) smooth fibers, as well as one sample (LS10MS05) blending long and medium (19 mm) smooth fibers, were examined. The blending of long and shorter steel fibers in UHPC generated high synergy in the tensile responses of the UHP-HFRCs, especially at high strain rates. Synergies were significant for strain capacity and peak toughness, but not for post-cracking strength and softening fracture energy. Among the long fibers, the hooked fibers generated the highest synergy at high strain rates, but smooth fibers produced the highest rate sensitivity in UHPC. Consequently, the LS10MS05 sample demonstrated the highest tensile resistance at high strain rates.     

Influence of reinforcing bar type on autogenous shrinkage stress and bond behavior of ultra high performance fiber reinforced concrete

This study investigated the effects of reinforcing bar type and reinforcement ratio on the restrained shrinkage behaviors of ultra high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC), including autogenous shrinkage stress, degree of restraint, and cracking potential. In addition, the influence of the type and embedment length of reinforcing bars on the bond behavior of UHPFRC was evaluated by performing pullout test. Three different reinforcing bars (deformed steel bar, round steel bar, and GFRP bar) were investigated in the restrained shrinkage and pullout tests. The GFRP bar exhibited the best performance in relation to the autogenous shrinkage stress, degree of restraint, and cracking potential because of its low stiffness. The highest bond strength was obtained for the deformed steel bar, and the bar yielding was observed when the bar embedment length of l_b = 2d_b was used. The round steel bar exhibited the poorest behaviors for both of the restrained shrinkage and pullout.     

Assessment of factors influencing mechanical properties of steel fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete

In the last decade the steel fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFRSCC) has been used in several partially and fully structural applications. This study investigates how the inclusion of steel fibers affects the properties of SFRSCC. For this purpose, an extensive experimental program including different cement contents of 400, 450 and 500 kg/m³, two maximum aggregate sizes of 10 and 20 mm along with steel fiber volume fractions of 0%, 0.38%, 0.64% and 1% was conducted. The water/cement ratio was kept constant at 0.45 for all the mixes studied. Mechanical properties were tested for compressive, splitting tensile and flexural strengths and modulus of elasticity. The results showed that mixture characteristics and volume fraction of steel fibers can significantly affect these major properties. Furthermore, this study represents extensive comparisons using database that have been gathered from a wide variety of international sources reported by many researchers and data obtained experimentally, which came up with about some discrepancies in the results.     

Toughness testing of ultra high performance fibre reinforced concrete

In this paper an investigation is made of the applicability of the ASTM C 1609 procedure for testing toughness of ultra high performance fibre reinforced concretes containing a large amount of fibre (≥2% by volume) and exhibiting deflection hardening behaviour. All mixtures exhibited deflection hardening behaviour, and the parameters varied included (1) the amount of steel fibres, (2) the type of steel fibres, (3) the size of the longest fibre, (4) the addition of polypropylene fibres, and (5) the size of the maximum aggregate grain in the concrete matrix. Based on comparison of the curves obtained from flexural toughness tests with the evaluation of the test results obtained according to ASTM C 1609 and with the statistical analysis, the authors recommended additional toughness parameters (P_100,3.00, P_100,4.00, P_100,6.00, T_100,3.00, T_100,4.00, and T_100,6.00) for the evaluation of toughness results. Such additional toughness parameters are calculated using a similar procedure as that specified in ASTM C 1609.     

Thermo-mechanical properties of fiber reinforced raw perlite concrete

The effect of hooked steel, wavy steel and polypropylene fibers on the thermo-mechanical properties of raw perlite aggregate concrete was investigated. In order to determine the effect of fiber ratio on the thermo-mechanical properties of 100% raw perlite concrete, 0.25%, 0.75%, 1.25%, and 1.75% fiber ratios were used by volume of the sample and also, 350 kg/m³ cement dosage and 3 ± 1 cm slump were used. When compared to the control sample that contains no fiber, (1) with the increase of steel fiber ratio in the mixtures thermal conductivity (TC), unit weight, splitting-tensile strength, and flexural strength of concretes increased, (2) with the increase of steel fiber ratio in the mixtures compressive strength of concretes decreased, and (3) with the increase of polypropylene fiber ratio in the mixtures TC, unit weight, compressive strength, splitting-tensile strength, and flexural strength of concretes decreased.     

Tensile behavior of carbon fiber bundles at different strain rates

Quasi-static and high strain rate tensile tests have been performed on T700 carbon fiber bundles and complete stress-strain curves at the strain rate range of 0.001 s^− 1 to 1300 s^− 1 were obtained. Results show that strain rate has negligible effect on both ultimate strength and failure strain, and T700 carbon fiber can be regarded as strain rate insensitive materials. On the basis of the fiber bundles model and the statistic theory of fiber strength, a damage constitutive model based on Weibull distribution function has been developed to describe tensile behavior of T700 fiber bundles. And the method to determine the statistic parameters of fibers by tensile tests of fiber bundles is established, too.     

High strain rate effects on direct tensile behavior of high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composites

Direct tensile behavior of high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composites (HPFRCCs) at high strain rates between 10 s⁻¹ and 30 s⁻¹ was investigated using strain energy frame impact machine (SEFIM) built by authors. Six series of HPFRCC combining three variables including two types of fiber, hooked (H) and twisted (T) steel fiber, two fiber volume contents, 1% and 1.5%, and two matrix strengths, 56 MPa and 81 MPa, were investigated. The influence of these three variables on the high strain rate effects on the direct tensile behavior of HPFRCCs was analyzed based on the test results. All series of HPFRCCs showed strongly sensitive tensile behavior at high strain rates, i.e., much higher post cracking strength, strain capacity, and energy absorption capacity at high strain rates than at static rate. However, the enhancement was different according to the types of fiber, fiber volume content and matrix strength: HPFRCCs with T-fibers produced higher impact resistance than those with H-fibers; and matrix strength was more influential, than fiber contents, for the high strain rate sensitivity. In addition, an attempt to predict the dynamic increase factor (DIF) of post cracking strength for HPFRCCs considering the influences of fiber type and matrix strength was made.     

Permeability of ultra high performance fiber reinforced concretes (UHPFRC) under high stresses

Ultra High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concretes (UHPFRC) present outstanding mechanical properties and a very low permeability which make them very attractive for the rehabilitation of existing structures and for new conceptions. UHPFRC are characterized by a significant tensile strain hardening (multiple cracking stage) that can be used to optimize the mechanical performance of composite structural elements. In order to validate this assumption, permeability tests were carried out on UHPFRC specimens previously submitted to various levels of tensile deformation with progressive damage. Based on permeability results, it was possible to define maximal tensile deformations whereby the water permeability of a specific UHPFRC remains low for various exposure conditions.     

Modelling the response of reinforced concrete panels under blast loading

A finite element model is developed for the simulation of the structural response of steel-reinforced concrete panels to blast loading using LS-DYNA. The effect of element size on the dynamic material model of concrete is investigated and strain-rate effects on concrete in tension and compression are accounted for separately in the model. The model is validated by comparing the computed results with experimental data from the literature. In addition, a parametric study is carried out to investigate the effects of charge weight, standoff distance, panel thickness and reinforcement ratio on the blast resistance of reinforced concrete panels.     

Effect of strain rate on tensile behavior of carbon fiber reinforced aluminum laminates

In this paper, the tensile behavior of carbon fiber reinforced aluminum laminates (CRALL) has been determined at a strain rate range from 0.001 s^− 1 to 1200 s^− 1. Experimental results show that CRALL composite is a strain rate sensitive material, and the tensile strength and failure strain both increased with increasing strain rate. A linear strain hardening model has been combined with Weibull distribution function to establish a constitutive equation for CRALL at different strain rates. The analysis of the model shows that the Weibull scale parameter, σ₀, increased with increasing strain rate, but Weibull shape parameter, β, can be regarded as a constant.     

Determination of strain rate dependent through-thickness tensile properties of textile reinforced thermoplastic composites using L-shaped beam specimens

The presented work focuses on a methodology to characterise strain rate dependent strength and elastic properties of textile reinforced composites in laminate through-thickness direction. Here, for the characterisation L-shaped beam specimens are used. The investigated composite is a fabric reinforced thermoplast made of hybrid E-glass/polypropylene yarns. The analytical solution for the determination of the through-thickness tensile strength as proposed by Lekhnitskii and Shivakumar is verified by means of an optical deformation analysis and is extended for thew determination of the through-thickness elastic modulus. Finally, the possibility of the strain rate dependent characterisation is investigated and a Johnson-Cook based modelling approach is used to represent the apparent strain rate dependency of the through-thickness failure onset. The methodology is successfully used to capture the material strain rate effects with the according strength values and model parameters over a strain rate range of 10 ⁻⁴ s⁻¹ to 10 s⁻¹ as well as the elastic modulus.     

Material and bond properties of ultra high performance fiber reinforced concrete with micro steel fibers

For investigating the effect of fiber content on the material and interfacial bond properties of ultra high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC), four different volume ratios of micro steel fibers (V_f = 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4%) were used within an identical mortar matrix. Test results showed that 3% steel fiber by volume yielded the best performance in terms of compressive strength, elastic modulus, shrinkage behavior, and interfacial bond strength. These parameters improved as the fiber content was increased up to 3 vol.%. Flexural behaviors such as flexural strength, deflection, and crack mouth opening displacement at peak load had pseudo-linear relationships with the fiber content. Through inverse analysis, it was shown that fracture parameters including cohesive stress and fracture energy are significantly influenced by the fiber content: higher cohesive stress and fracture energy were achieved with higher fiber content. The analytical models for the ascending branch of bond stress-slip response suggested in the literature were considered for UHPFRC, and appropriate parameters were derived from the present test data.     

Effect of mineral admixtures and steel fiber volume contents on the behavior of high performance fiber reinforced concrete

High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete (HPFRC) is a structural material with advanced mechanical properties. The structural design of HPFRC members is based on the post-cracking residual strength provided by the addition into the mix of the fibers. Moreover, the addition of different types of mineral admixtures influences the overall behavior of this material. In order to optimize the performance of HPFRC in structural members, it is necessary to evaluate the mechanical properties and the post-cracking behavior in a reliable way. As a result, an experimental study on six different sets of HPFRC specimens was carried out. The main parameters that varied were the fiber volume content and the types of mineral addition. The behavior in compression, in flexural tension and the shrinkage properties were evaluated and critically analyzed in order to give a guide for structural use.The results showed that by adding high fiber volume content and the Algerian blast furnace slag into the mix, the HPFRC material obtained has a very good performance and it is suitable for use in practice.     

Tensile fracture properties of an Ultra High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC) with steel fiber

This paper presents a study of the tensile fracture properties of Ultra High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC) considering the effects of the fiber content. To investigate the impact of fiber content, notched 3-point bending tests were executed, where the fiber volume ratio was varied from 0% to 5%. From the bending tests, it was found that the flexural tensile strength of UHPFRC linearly increases with increasing fiber volume ratio and the rule of mixture can be applied to UHPFRC. Furthermore, an inverse analysis was performed to determine the tensile fracture model of UHPFRC and a tri-linear tensile softening model is suggested. The suggested model successfully represents the increase of the stress-constant bridging zone and the decrease of the stress-resisting zone with increasing fiber content. The proposed model for various fiber content levels is simple and versatile and can be readily applied to structural design or numerical analysis of UHPFRC.     

Fatigue life prediction of fiber reinforced concrete under flexural load

This paper presents a semi-analytical method to predict fatigue behavior in flexure of fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) based on the equilibrium of force in the critical cracked section. The model relies on the cyclic bridging law, the so-called stress–crack width relationship under cyclic tensile load as the fundamental constitutive relationship in tension. The numerical results in terms of fatigue crack length and crack mouth opening displacement as a function of load cycles are obtained for given maximum and minimum flexure load levels. Good correlation between experiments and the model predictions is found. Furthermore, the minimum load effect on the fatigue life of beams under bending load, which has been studied experimentally in the past, is simulated and a mechanism-based explanation is provided in theory. This basic analysis leads to the conclusion that the fatigue performance in flexure of FRC materials is strongly influenced by the cyclic stress–crack width relationship within the fracture zone. The optimum fatigue behavior of FRC structures in bending can be achieved by optimising the bond properties of aggregate–matrix and fiber–matrix interfaces.     

Tensile characteristics and fracture energy of fiber reinforced and non-reinforced ultra high performance concrete (UHPC)

In the framework of this study, various mixtures of fiber reinforced and non-reinforced ultra high performance concrete (UHPFRC and UHPC) were produced and tested with focus on the determination of the fracture energy and its comparison to standard mechanical material parameters. For some mixtures a compressive strength of more than 300 MPa was reached still retaining good fresh characteristics of the UHPC. These mixtures were examined for properties of fresh and hardened concrete, focusing on tensile strength properties and fracture energy. The fracture energy was determined to describe the work capacity, i.e. the potential energy intake until the failure of the material. Thereby, a significant increase of the work capacity could be achieved by the addition of steel fibers. Furthermore, the impact of a vacuum treatment of the freshly mixed concrete in regard to fresh and hardened concrete characteristics as well as the influence of aftertreatment (heat treatment and water storage) on compressive and tensile properties of the UHPC was investigated.