Correlation of tensile and flexural responses of strain softening and strain hardening cement composites

Closed form equations for generating moment–curvature response of a rectangular beam of fiber reinforced concrete are presented. These equations can be used in conjunction with crack localization rules to predict flexural response of a beam under four point bending test. Parametric studies simulated the behavior of two classes of fiber reinforced concrete: strain softening and strain hardening materials. The simulation revealed that the direct use of uniaxial tension and compression responses under-predicted the flexural response for strain softening material while a good prediction for strain hardening material was obtained. The importance of strain softening range on the flexural response is discussed using non-dimensional post-peak parameters. Results imply that the brittleness and size effect are more pronounced in the flexural response of brittle materials, while more accurate predictions are obtained with ductile materials. It is also demonstrated that correlations of tensile and flexural results can be established using normalized uniaxial tension and compression models with a single scaling factor.