972

Construction Materials and Structures

S.O. Ekolu et al. (Eds.)
IOS Press, 2014
2014 The authors and IOS Press. All rights reserved.
doi:10.3233/978-1-61499-466-4-972

Shear behavior of ultra-high-strength steel

fiber-reinforced self-compacting concrete
beams
Amr S. EL-DIEB1, Tamer A. EL-MAADDAWY and Omar AL-RAWASHDAH
Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, College of Engineering, United
Arab Emirates University, UAE

Abstract. Ultra-high-strength concrete (UHSC) is characterized with its high

compressive strength, yet it shows very brittle failure compared to normal-strength
concrete due to a limited post-crack behavior. The inclusion of steel fibers would
enhance the post-crack response of this high class of concrete. Since UHSC is
produced with very low water to cementitious materials ratio, the inclusion of steel
fibers would reduce the concrete workability. The development of self-compacting
concrete (SCC) opened the avenue for resolving the workability issue. In this study,
the shear response of ultra-high-strength fiber-reinforced self-compacting concrete
beams (UHS-FR-SCC) has been investigated. The impact of varying the steel fiber
volume; Vf = 0.4%, 0.8% and 1.2%, on the shear response has been investigated.
The shear response of the UHS-FR-SCC beams has been compared with that of
similar beams made of normal strength concrete (NSC). The addition of steel
fibers significantly increased the shear capacity of the concrete beams. The shear
strength gain increased with an increase in the amount of steel fibers. The use of
steel fibers had a more pronounced effect on the incremental shear strength gain of
the NSC beams than the UHSC beams. Test results indicated that the inclusion of
steel fibers with proper volume fraction can be used as a substitution of the
internal steel stirrups. The obtained results could be used as input data to examine
the validity of current models for shear strength prediction of UHS-FR-SCC beams.
Keywords. Ultra-high-strength fiber-reinforced self-compacting concrete (UHSFR-SCC), steel fibers, shear, shear capacity, transverse reinforcement, ductility

Introduction
Progress in concrete materials science and technology during the last 30 years has far
exceeded that made during the previous 150 years [1]. The ultra-high-strength concrete
(UHSC) is a new class of concrete that has been the result of such development. This
new type of concrete is characterized with very high compressive strength; higher than
100 MPa. The UHSC shows very brittle failure behavior compared to normal-strength
concrete (NSC) and therefore a limited post-crack behavior. UHSC fails explosively
without any omen [2]. The addition of steel fibers to NSC can enhance the deformation
capacity (i.e. axial strain or deflection) and consequently the ductility and fracture
toughness can be improved [3-12]. The increase in fiber content improves the post1

Corresponding author: Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, College of Engineering,

United Arab Emirates University, P.O. Box 15551, Al Ain, UAE; E-mail: amr.eldieb@uaeu.ac.ae

A.S. El-Dieb et al. / Shear Behavior of Ultra-High-Strength Steel Fiber-Reinforced SCC Beams

973

peak behavior and a more extended softening branch is observed [2]. The use of fibers
to produce ultra-high-strength fiber-reinforced concrete (UHS-FRC) would provide the
structures with innovative features and open new areas for the application of the UHSC.
Steel fibers would significantly reduce the workability of the UHSC. Any increase
in the water-to-binder (w/b) ratio to maintain the workability would reduce the concrete
strength. The development and use of self-compacting concrete (SCC) has opened the
avenue for resolving the workability issue. The combination of technology and
knowledge to produce UHS-FR-SCC was proved to be feasible [6].
The shear behavior and strength of reinforced concrete (RC) beams was found to
be affected by the inclusion of steel fibers [7, 9-21]. These investigations concluded
that the main parameters influencing the shear behavior and strength of RC beams
made with steel fiber-reinforced concrete are:
x Shear span-to-depth ratio (a/d)
x Concrete compressive strength (fc)
x Steel fiber volume fraction (Vf)
x Main reinforcement ratio (s)
Most studies concluded that using steel fibers with volume fraction less than
0.75% will not contribute significantly to the shear behavior of beams [7, 9, 10, 12, 14,
and 16]. Also, the minimum main reinforcement ratio should be higher than
conventionally reinforced members in order to achieve sufficient ductility [11]. It was
found that it is feasible to combine steel fibers and minimum shear reinforcement to
achieve the shear strength of RC beams and improve its ductility [17, 18, and 20].
Few studies investigated the effect of incorporating steel fibers on the shear
behavior of ultra-high-strength concrete RC beams [11, 18, 21], and self-compacting
concrete (SCC) [16]. The interaction between the shear capacity, steel fiber content,
shear span to depth ratio (a/d), and the transverse shear reinforcement ratio (Ust) needs
more investigation in order to establish comprehensive understanding, and to be able to
design RC beams with UHS-FR-SCC.

1. Study objectives
The aim of this study was to investigate the shear response of ultra-high-strength fiberreinforced self-compacting concrete (UHS-FR-SCC) beams with different shear span to
depth ratios (a/d). The impact of varying the steel fiber volume on the shear response is
investigated. The behavior of the UHS-FR-SCC beams was compared with that of
similar beams made with normal strength concrete (NSC). The beam size, fiber type
and longitudinal reinforcement ratio were kept unchanged.

2. Used materials
In this study, two mixtures were used to produce NSC and UHSC. The materials used
in the mixtures included ordinary Portland cement (OPC, Type 1), local coarse crushed
stone sand, dune sand, crushed stone aggregate (10 mm) and polycarboxylic based
super-plasticizers. The concrete mixture proportions by weight are given in Table 1.
The average cylinder compressive strengths of the concrete mixtures without the steel
fibers were 28 MPa and 100 MPa for the NSC and UHSC mixtures, respectively.

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The longitudinal steel reinforcement was No. 20 deformed bars with nominal yield
strength of 520 MPa. The shear reinforcement outside the test region was No. 8 with
nominal yield strength of 520 MPa. The shear reinforcement used in the test region was
bars with measured yield strength of 344 MPa and a diameter of 5.5 mm.
Table 1. Concrete mixtures proportions for 1 m3
Constituent
Cement (kg)
Silica Fume (kg)
Coarse Sand (kg)
Dune Sand (kg)
Coarse Agg. (kg)
Water (lit)
Superplasticizer (kg)

NSC Mixture
387.6
12.4
472.2
472.2
757.2
209.2
2.0

UHSC Mixture
561.0
99.0
470.3
253.2
927.5
151.8
16.5

Dramix RC-65/35-BN were used as steel fiber which are manufactured by Bekaert
cooperation. Steel fiber is hooked at its end as shown in Figure 1 and has a nominal
tensile strength of 1100 MPa. The steel fiber has a length of 35 mm and a diameter of
0.55 mm which makes the aspect ratio (L/d) equals 64. The fibers are not coated. Four
different percentages of steel fiber were used (0 %, 0.4 %, 0.8%, and 1.2 %) of the
concrete volume.

Figure 1. Dramix RC-65/35-BN fibers used in the study

3. Specimens configuration and testing

The loading regime adopted in this study allowed two tests to be performed on each
beam as shown in Figure 2. The left shear span (slender beam specimen with a/d = 3.3;
a=shear span of 60 cm and d=effective beam depth of 18.2 cm) was first tested keeping
the right end zone overhung and unstressed as shown in Figure 2-a. The right shear
span (deep beam specimen with a/d = 2.2; a=shear span of 40 cm and d=effective beam
depth of 18.2 cm) was then tested keeping the left end zone, already tested previously,
overhung and unstressed as shown in Figure 2-b. Each beam was three meter long (L =
300 cm), the total height (h) was 22 cm, effective depth (d) was 18.2 cm and the width
(b) was 12 cm. The beams were designed to fail in shear. Four bars No. 20 were used
as tensile steel and 2 bars No. 20 were used as compressive steel. The shear
reinforcement outside the test regions was No. 8 with at spacing s = 10 cm to assure
that the shear failure will not occur outside the test region. For the beams with stirrups
in the test region, the stirrups were plain double-legged with a nominal diameter of 6
mm spaced at a distance of s = 10 cm.

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(a) Slender Beam

(b) Deep Beam

Figure 2. Testing configuration and dimensions of beams; (a) slender beam

and (b) deep beam (dimensions are in cm)

4. Test matrix
Table 2 shows the test matrix of the study. The specimens were divided into two
groups; Group (A) for the NSC specimens with 28MPa and Group (B) for the UHSC
specimens with 100MPa. Group (A) consists of 10 tests; five tests for slender beams
(a/d = 3.3) and five tests for deep beams (a/d = 2.2). Group (B) consists of five tests for
slender beams (a/d = 3.3). The main parameter changed in the five tests was the steel
volume fraction (Vf %). Three volume fractions of steel fibers were investigated in this
study (0.4%, 0.8% and 1.2%). Also, in each subgroup two tests were conducted on two
control specimens without steel fibers; one specimen with internal stirrups and one
specimen without internal stirrups.

5. Results and discussions

5.1. Failure mode
Failure modes of the slender and deep specimens of group (A) are shown in Figures 3
and 4, respectively. All slender specimens of group (A) with the NSC, except S28-VF3,
failed in a classical diagonal-tension shear mode of failure. Specimen S28-VF3 with
the higher amount of steel fiber volume fraction of Vf = 1.2% failed in a web-crushing
shear mode of failure. The addition of the steel fibers in this specimen restricted growth
and widening of the shear cracks developed in the shear span, and hence allowed the
specimen to develop its full shear capacity. The deep specimen D28-VF0, D28-VF0-St,
and D28-VF1 failed in a shear-compression mode of failure due to crushing of concrete
at the head of the inclined shear cracks under the load point. Deep specimens D28-VF2
and D28-VF3 failed by crushing of the diagonal concrete struts. This was more evident
in specimen D28-VF3 with higher steel fiber volume fraction of Vf = 1.2%. All
specimens of group (B), except S100-VF0, exhibited one major diagonal shear crack in
the shear span. These specimens failed eventually in a diagonal-tension shear mode of

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A.S. El-Dieb et al. / Shear Behavior of Ultra-High-Strength Steel Fiber-Reinforced SCC Beams

failure. Specimen S100-VF0 failed in a diagonal-splitting shear mode of failure. Failure

modes of specimens of group (B) are shown in Figure 5.
Table 2. Test Matrix
Group

Shear Span to Depth Ratio

Slender (a/d = 3.3)

A
(fc = 28 MPa)
(NSC)

Deep (a/d = 2.2)

B
(f'c = 100 MPa)
(UHSC)

Slender (a/d = 3.3)

S28-VF0

S28-VF1

S28-VF2

Vf %

Beam I.D.

0.0%

S28-VF0-St

0.0%

S28-VF0

0.4%

S28-VF1

0.8%

S28-VF2

1.2%

S28-VF3

0.0%

D28-VF0-St

0.0%

D28-VF0

0.4%

D28-VF1

0.8%

D28-VF2

1.2%

D28-VF3

0.0%

S100-VF0-St

0.0%

S100-VF0

0.4%

S100-VF1

0.8%

S100-VF2

1.2%

S100-VF3

S28-VF3

S28-VF0-St

Figure 3. Failure modes of the slender specimens of group (A)

D28-VF0

D28-VF1

D28-VF2

D28-VF3

D28-VF0-St

Figure 4. Failure modes of the deep specimens of group (A)

5.2. Deflection response

5.2.1. Group A (NSC)
The shear force versus deflection relationships of the slender and deep beam specimens
of group (A) are depicted in Figures 6 and 7, respectively. It is evident that the addition

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977

of steel fibers increased the shear resistance and energy absorption of the specimens.
The shear resistances of the slender specimens with the steel fiber volumes of 0.4%,
0.8% and 1.2% were 20%, 48%, and 130% higher than the control specimen S28-VF0
that had neither steel fibers nor internal stirrups, respectively. For the deep specimens
of this group, the addition of steel fibers with volume fractions of 0.4%, 0.8% and 1.2%
resulted in increasing the shear resistance by 23%, 128%, and 110%, respectively
relative to that of the control specimen S28-VF0. It is important to highlight that the
shear resistances of specimens S28-VF2 and D28-VF2 with Vf = 0.8% were higher than
those of their counterpart specimens S28-VF0-St and D28-VF0-St with internal steel
stirrups and no steel fibers. This indicates that the incorporation of steel fibers in the
concrete mixture of NSC slender and deep beams can be used as a substitution for the
internal steel stirrups.

S100-VF0

S100-VF1

S100-VF2

S100-VF3

S100-VF0-St

Figure 5. Failure modes of slender specimens of group (B)

Figure 6. Shear force-deflection response of the slender specimens of group (A)

5.2.2. Group B (UHSC)

The shear force versus deflection relationships of the specimens of group (B) are
depicted in Figure 8. The addition of steel fibers increased the shear resistance and
energy absorption of the specimens. The shear resistances of the specimens of this
group with the steel fiber volumes of 0.4%, 0.8% and 1.2% were 29%, 57%, and 94%
higher than the control specimen S100-VF0 that had neither steel fibers nor internal
stirrups, respectively. The addition of steel fibers with Vf = 0.8% was not sufficient to
increase the shear resistance to a level higher than that of specimen S100-VF0-St with
internal steel stirrups and no steel fibers. This indicates that a minimum steel fiber
volume fraction of Vf = 1.2% shall be used to replace the internal steel stirrups for the
UHSC beams.

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Figure 7. Shear force-deflection response of the deep specimens of group (A)

Figure 8. Shear force-deflection response of the slender specimens of group (B)

6. Conclusions
The inclusion of steel fibers in the concrete mixture significantly improved the shear
resistance and energy absorption of both slender and deep beam specimens. Increasing
the amount of the steel fibers increased the shear resistance of both NSC and UHSC
beam specimens. The inclusion of steel fibers with Vf = 0.8% in the mixture of the NSC
beam specimens increased the shear strength to a level higher than that of a similar
specimen with internal steel stirrups and no steel fibers. For the UHSC beam specimens,
a minimum steel fiber volume fraction of Vf = 1.2% was necessary to upgrade the shear
resistance to a level higher than that of a corresponding specimen with internal steel
stirrups and no steel fibers. The addition of the steel fibers in the concrete mixture
restricted growth and widening of the shear cracks developed in the shear span, and
hence allowed the specimens to develop a higher shear capacity.

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979

Acknowledgment
This work was financially supported by the UAEU Research Grant # 06-34-07-11/10.
Also, the manufacturing and testing was conducted in the concrete and structural
laboratories at the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, UAEU, the help
and effort of the laboratory specialists is very much appreciated.

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