Construction and Building Materials 36 (2012) 704–710

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Flexural performance of fibre reinforced concrete made with steel

and synthetic fibres
M.N. Soutsos a,⇑, T.T. Le b, A.P. Lampropoulos c
a
School of Planning, Architecture & Civil Engineering, Queen’s University, David Keir Building, Stranmillis Road, Belfast BT9 5AG, UK
b
Department of Building Materials, National University of Civil Engineering, 55 Giai Phong Road, Hanoi, Viet Nam
c
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Liverpool, Brownlow Street, Liverpool L69 3GQ, UK

h i g h l i g h t s

" Fibres do not significantly improve the flexural strength.

" The main benefit of fibres is the improved ductility in the post-crack region.
" Flexural toughness increases considerably when steel and synthetic fibres are used.
" The required slab thickness was found to reduce as the fibre dosage was increased.
" The thickness of the slabs was also influenced by the type and shape of the steel fibres.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The ductility of concrete made with commercially available steel and synthetic fibres has been investi-
Received 27 September 2011 gated. Flexural stress–deflection relationships have been used to determine: flexural strength, flexural
Received in revised form 14 May 2012 toughness, equivalent flexural strength, and equivalent flexural strength ratio. The flexural toughness
Accepted 4 June 2012
of concrete was found to increase considerably when steel and synthetic fibres were used. However,
Available online 15 July 2012
equal dosages of different fibres did not result in specimens with the same flexural toughness. Flexural
toughness differences of almost 35 J existed even at the same fibre dosage. This also resulted in consid-
Keywords:
erable differences in the minimum required ground supported slab thickness.
Steel and synthetic fibres
Fibre reinforced concrete
Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Flexural performance
Ground supported slabs

1. Introduction
Fibre reinforced concrete (FRC) has been widely used for indus-
trial pavements [1–3] and small (non-structural) precast elements
or sprayed in tunnels [4–6]. Besides the non-structural elements
(pipes, culverts and other small components), fibre reinforcement
is particularly appealing for large structural elements. Here steel fi-
bres may be successfully adopted in substitution, at least partly, of
the conventional reinforcement (bars or welded mesh) to reduce
labour costs (since the conventional reinforcement is placed man-
ually) [7].
However, the full potential of fibre reinforced concrete is still
not fully exploited in practice. This is mainly due to a lack of spe-
cific rules of fibre reinforced concrete in building codes. In fact, the
existing rules for conventional concrete can hardly be adopted for
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 (0)28 90974023.
E-mail address: m.soutsos@qub.ac.uk (M.N. Soutsos).
fibre reinforced concrete that is markedly non linear since fibres
start working after cracking of the concrete matrix. While conven-
tional reinforced concrete keeps a reasonable linear behaviour un-
til the bars yield, fibre reinforced concrete has a noticeable non
linear response and, depending on the fibre reinforcement (content
and type), fibre reinforced concrete has a quite complicated post-
cracking softening behaviour.
The residual tensile strength in the post-crack softening region
has usually been ignored in the design of normal concrete. How-
ever in the case of steel fibre reinforced concrete where the post
peak tensile stresses are significant and cannot be ignored, RILEM
TC-162 [8,9] has produced recommendations of how this can be
estimated and incorporated into traditional reinforced concrete de-
sign procedures.
It should be stressed, however, that fibres do not significantly
influence flexural tensile strength, as defined by the load capacity
at first crack [10].
Steel fibres for reinforcing concrete are manufactured from
cold-drawn wire, steel sheet and other forms of steel. Wire fibres

0950-0618/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2012.06.042
 M.N. Soutsos et al. / Construction and Building Materials 36 (2012) 704–710
are the most common type used in floors. They vary in length up to
about 60 mm, with aspect ratios (ratio of length to nominal diam-
eter) from 20 to 100, and with a variety of cross sections. Fibres, in
order to gain pull-out resistance, have enlarged, flattened or
hooked ends, roughened surface textures or wavy profiles.
The resultant composite concrete can have considerable ductil-
ity, often termed ‘‘toughness’’. The ductility characteristic is depen-
dent on fibre type, dosage, tensile strength and anchorage
mechanism. This ductility is utilised in the floor thickness design
of the Concrete Society’s Technical Report [11]. The measurement
of post–first–crack flexural strength is taken into account in the
calculation of design positive (sagging) moment capacities. The ef-
fect of the fibres is ignored in respect of negative (hogging) mo-
ment capacity as the design criteria for ground – supported slabs
dictate that load–induced cracks should not be permitted in the
top of the slab [11].
Ductility is commonly measured using the Japanese Standard
test method [12], as there are no relevant UK standards. JSCE-SF4
[12] uses beams in a third-point loading arrangement. Load–
deflection curves can be generated from which the equivalent flex-
ural strength, Re,3 value (the average load applied as the 45 cm
span beam deflects to 3 mm expressed as a ratio of the load to first
crack), can be estimated. This measure is also commonly known as
the equivalent flexural strength. It must be noted that the design
approaches in previous editions of TR34 [13] were based on elastic
analyses by Westergaand [14] and Hetenyi [15]. However, designs
for most projects of significant size in recent years have been fo-
cused on the plastic design methods that were introduced in the
1994 edition of TR34 [13].
In ‘‘jointless’’ slab construction, steel fibres at dosages in the or-
der of 35–45 kg/m3 are used to control the width and distribution
of shrinkage-induced cracks. In floors with sawn joints, dosages in
the range of 20–30 kg/m3 are typical. Manufacturers should be
asked for data to demonstrate that dosages at the lower end of this
range are effective as there is a lower limit below which continuity
of fibres in the concrete cannot be guaranteed. It is also necessary
to demonstrate minimum ductility for steel fibre reinforced con-
crete to be used in the limit state designs.
Synthetic fibres made of polyolefin (blend of polypropylene and
polyethylene) are being developed that have the potential to pro-
vide concrete with significant ductility [16]. These fibres are not
yet in common use in floors but are an interesting development
in fibre reinforcement technology.
As with steel fibres, data should be available to demonstrate the
performance of synthetic structural fibres in practice.
Further development may therefore depend on an alternative
testing technique to the commonly used beam tests and associated
Re,3 values. Plate tests of various types [17] are in limited use, but
further work is required to provide calibrated performance data
from such tests that can be used in proven design guidance.
RILEM TC162 [8,9], ACI544 [18] and Concrete Society’s Techni-
cal Report No. 34 [11], provide guidelines to designers. However,
designers hardly accept to assume responsibilities by adopting vol-
unteering guidelines or research results available in scientific pa-
pers and therefore still strongly require clearer and simpler
design rules. For this reason, further research on fibre reinforced
concrete is still needed to confirm again and again its advantages,
particularly the flexural toughness and fracture energy which are
used for design purposes.
2. Aims and objectives
The main objective of this project was to quantify differences in
the flexural toughness of concretes made with fibres of different
shapes and lengths using the same dosage:
705
 Steel fibre shapes and lengths investigated were as follows:
– Hooked ends, 60 mm length (HE 60).
– Wavy profile, 60 mm length (WP 60).
– Wavy profile, 50 mm length (WP 50).
– Flattened ends, 50 mm length (FE 50).
Dosages investigated were 30, 40 and 50 kg/m3.
A synthetic ‘‘structural’’ fibre was also investigated at dosage
rates of 4.6 and 5.3 kg/m3:
– Synthetic, 4.6 kg/m3 (S 4.6).
– Synthetic, 5.3 kg/m3 (S 5.3).
3. Materials, mix proportions and experimental procedures
The materials used for all the concrete mixes were: CEM I Portland Cement
42.5 N, natural sand and 20–5 mm gravel. Tap water was used for all the concrete
mixes. The fibres used are shown in Fig. 1.
The mix proportions used were: 267 kg/m3 of Portland cement, 805 kg/m3 of
sand, 1190 kg/m3 of gravel and 189 kg/m3 of water. The total water–cement ratio
was therefore 0.71. The aggregate used had been previously oven dried. Allowance
was made for absorption (0.9% for sand and 2.4% for gravel). The free water–cement
ratio of all mixes was therefore 0.57. Target 28 day mean compressive strength was
32.5 MPa which is typical of mixes used for ground supported slabs in the United
Kingdom.
A pan mixer of 0.1 m3 capacity was used throughout. Gravel was placed first in
the mixing drum, followed by sand, and cement. The materials were dry mixed for
1 min before adding the water. Mixing continued for a further 4 min before the fi-
bres were added. Two minutes of further mixing was considered sufficient for the
proper dispersion of the fibres in the mix without causing a ‘‘balling’’ effect.
Concrete was mixed in batch sizes of either 73 or 95 l which was sufficient for
casting six 100 mm cubes for testing at 3 and 7-days, three 150 mm cubes for test-
ing at 28-days, and six 150  150  550 mm prisms. Concrete was then placed in
moulds which were clamped tightly to a vibrating table. These were filled to the
top and vibrated for 1 min. Specimens were cured by covering them with a wet hes-
sian sheet and a polythene sheet, prior to them being demoulded at 1 day and
placed in a 20 °C curing tank up till they were tested.
The experimental project involved casting and testing 66 prisms of size
150  150  550 mm and cubes of size 100 and 150 mm.
Cubes were tested for compressive strength using a Tonipact compression test-
ing machine which had a maximum capacity of 3000 kN, and which complied to BS
1881-116 [19].
Load–deflection curves were determined by loading the 28-day prism speci-
mens as shown in Fig. 2 using a Denison Avery 100 kN test machine. The machine
was operated in a ‘closed loop’ in order to load the specimens at a constant deflec-
tion rate rather than constant load rate. The machine was therefore controlled by
the deflection measured by one of the two Linear Variable Displacement Transduc-
ers (LVDTs) placed on the specimen and shown in Fig. 3. Deflection control is the
recommended procedure for determining the complete load deflection relationship,
i.e. including the post peak region. Japanese Standard Test Method JSCE-SF4 [20]
recommends a deflection rate in the range of 1/1500 to 1/3000 of the span per min-
ute. This corresponds to 0.20–0.30 mm per minute for the 150  150  550 mm
(span of 450 mm) specimens. 0.25 mm per minute was used. The specimens were
loaded until the deflection was greater than 1/150 span of specimen, i.e. more
than 3 mm for 150  150  550 specimens.
The ‘closed loop’ deflection control mode should use the average of two LVDTs,
one placed at the front of the specimen and a second placed at the back of the
Fig. 1. Steel and synthetic fibres used in this project.
706 M.N. Soutsos et al. / Construction and Building Materials 36 (2012) 704–710

that was used for calculating flexural strengths, flexural toughnesses, equivalent
flexural strengths and equivalent flexural strength ratios (according to JSCE-SF4
[20]).

4. Results and discussion

4.1. Compressive strength

The 28-day mean strength of plain concrete was 32.5 MPa. The
incorporation of steel fibres increased the compressive strength by
about 4 and 5 MPa for fibre dosage rates of 30 kg/m3 and 50 kg/m3.
The increases in the compressive strength of synthetic fibres were
lower, about 2 to 3 MPa for dosage rates of 4.5 to 5.3 kg/m3.

4.2. Flexural strength

Fig. 2. Experimental set up for determining load–deflection relationships.

The flexural strength was determined from the failure load, i.e.
the peak value in the stress–deflection relationships, according to
following equation:
PL
fb ¼ 2
ð1Þ
bh
where fb is the flexural strength in MPa, P the failure load in N, L the
span of the specimen in mm, in this case L = 450 mm, b the width of
specimen’s cross section in mm and h is the height of specimen’s
cross section in mm.
The flexural strength of plain concrete was 4.2 MPa and incor-
poration of steel fibres appeared to increase it by about 0.4 to
0.6 MPa, see Fig. 5. The increases in the flexural strength of syn-
thetic fibres were lower, about 0.2 to 0.25 N/mm2 for dosage rates
of 4.5 to 5.3 kg/m3. It may be concluded that incorporation of fibres
did not significantly improve the flexural strength. The main ben-
efits of using fibres was the improved ductility in the post-crack re-
Fig. 3. Set up for measuring load.
gion and this could only be determined from load–deflection
measurements.

4.3. Load–deflection relationships

Load–deflection relationships, based on the average value from

two LVDTs, for all the specimens are shown in Figs. 6–11. The solid
lines represent the average load deflection curve determined from
all the specimens that were tested. The dots of lighter colour indi-
cate the range of values obtained.
The dosage value affected the scatter of results in the post-crack
region. The scatter was relatively small for the plain concrete and
for the low dosage value of 30 kg/m3 but it became significant as
the dosage rate was increased. The scatter was also affected by
the shape of the fibres. The hooked end type HE 60 had the least
scatter for dosage values of 30 and 40 kg/m3 but the scatter for

Fig. 4. Typical deflection behaviour obtained from two LVDTs, one at the front and
the other at the back of the specimen.

specimen. However, the testing frame in this work used only the front LVDT for
controlling the deflection rate. Deflection values from both LVDTs were very similar,
see Fig. 4, and therefore indicate that the effect of using only one LVDT was negli-
gible to the values thus determined. It is, however, the average of these two values Fig. 5. Flexural strengths of steel and synthetic fibre reinforced concretes.
 M.N. Soutsos et al. / Construction and Building Materials 36 (2012) 704–710 707

Fig. 6. Load–deflection curves for plain concrete. Fig. 9. Load–deflection curves for WP 50 at 30, 40 and 50 kg/m3 dosage rates.

Fig. 7. Load–deflection curves for HE 60 at 30, 40 and 50 kg/m3 dosage rates. Fig. 10. Load–deflection curves for WP 60 at 30, 40 and 50 kg/m3 dosage rates.

Fig. 8. Load–deflection curves for FE 50 at 30, 40 and 50 kg/m3 dosage rates. Fig. 11. Load–deflection curves for S 4.6 and S 5.3 at 4.6 and 5.3 kg/m3 dosage rates.
708 M.N. Soutsos et al. / Construction and Building Materials 36 (2012) 704–710

50 kg/m3 was considerable even for this type. These load–deflec-

tion relationships were then used to determine flexural toughness
and equivalent flexural strengths [20,8] and equivalent flexural
strength ratios [20].
All these were affected by the post cracking behaviour of the
different shapes and lengths of fibres. The hooked end type had
the highest residual post-crack strength despite having similar
flexural strength to the others. The length of the fibres also influ-
enced the post-crack behaviour with 60 mm length outperforming
the 50 mm length, see Figs. 8 and 9. The synthetic fibres had resid-
ual strengths that were comparable to some of the steel fibres
especially at the low dosage rates.

4.4. Flexural toughness

Flexural toughness (Tb) is the term used to quantify the energy

absorbing capability of concrete; it is the area under the Fig. 13. Equivalent flexural strength of steel and synthetic fibre reinforced
load–deflection curve of concrete in flexure up till a deflection of concretes.
1/150 times the span, which corresponds to 3 mm for 150 
150  550 mm specimens [20]. The flexural toughness is depen-
dant on the dimensions of the specimen since these will influence
the total flexural load it can carry.
Fig. 12 shows clearly that the flexural toughness of concrete
increased considerably when steel and synthetic fibres were used.
However, equal dosages of different fibres did not result in speci-
mens with the same flexural toughness. Flexural toughness differ-
ences of almost 35 J existed between the highest value of 80 J
obtained with the hooked end fibres HE 60 and the ones with
the wavy profile and shorter length WP 50 which gave the lowest
value of 45 J at the dosage of 30 kg/m3. The difference was most
pronounced at the dosage of 40 kg/m3 – HE 60 achieved a flexural
toughness of almost twice the value of the lowest obtained.
The synthetic fibres at the dosage of 4.6 kg/m3 achieved almost
comparable flexural toughness values to the lowest value obtained
with steel fibre dosage of 30 kg/m3. The same trend followed with
the dosage of 5.3 kg/m3 which had a flexural toughness value of
48 J which was comparable to the low end values obtained with
50 kg/m3 of steel fibres.
Fig. 14. Equivalent flexural strength ratio of steel and synthetic fibre reinforced
concretes.
4.5. Equivalent flexural strength

Equivalent flexural strengths therefore followed the same

Equivalent flexural strength, fe, was determined from following
trends as flexural toughness values for specimens of equal size
equation:
(see Fig. 13). The flexural toughness was simply multiplied by
Tb L 1
 L which was a constant value for specimens of the same size.
dtb bh2
fe ¼  ð2Þ
dtb bh2 Same applied for equivalent flexural strength ratios, see Fig. 14,
since this was the ratio (equivalent flexural strength/peak flexural
where fe is the equivalent flexural strength in MPa, Tb the flexural
strength) and all specimens had similar flexural strengths.
toughness (J), dtb the midspan deflection in mm and L is the span
The values shown in Figs. 13 and 14 were used to estimate the
in mm.
thicknesses of ground supported slabs and these are discussed
later.

5. Ground supported slab thicknesses

Slab design for flexure at the ultimate limit state is based on

Fig. 12. Flexural toughness of steel and synthetic fibre reinforced concretes.
yield line theory, which requires adequate ductility to assume plas-
tic behaviour. At the ultimate limit state, the bending moment
along the sagging yield line may be assumed to be the full plastic
(or residual post-cracking) value. However, a principal requirement
in the design of ground - supported slabs is the avoidance of cracks
on the upper surface. Hence, at the ultimate limit state the bending
moment of the slab along the hogging yield lines is limited to the
design cracking moment of the concrete, with the partial safety fac-
tors appropriate to the ultimate limit state. Clearly there is a
requirement for sufficient rotation capacity of the sagging yield
lines so that the hogging moment capacity is mobilised [13].
 M.N. Soutsos et al. / Construction and Building Materials 36 (2012) 704–710 709

A single concentrated load applied internally over a small circu-

lar area on a large concrete ground–supported will cause a radial or
‘‘fan’’ type yield line pattern. For failure to occur these needs to be,
in addition to the radial cracks produced by positive moments Mp,
circumferential cracks produced by negative moments Mn. Using
conventional yield line theory with a = 0 (i.e. true point load) and
ignoring the contribution of the sub grade reaction, it can be shown
that the collapse load, Pu, in flexure is given by following equation:

Pu ¼ 2pðMp þ Mn Þ ð3Þ

where Mn is the ultimate negative (hogging) resistance moment of

the slab, and Mp is the ultimate positive (sagging) resistance mo-
ment of the slab.
The ductility of steel fibre reinforced concrete, as characterised
by its flexural strength ratio, Re,3, is used to calculate the residual
positive bending moment capacity Mp. This is given by following
equation:
!
2
fctk;fl h
Mp ¼ ðRe;3 Þ ð4Þ
cc 6

where fctk,fl is the characteristic flexural strength of plain concrete

(N/mm2), cc the partial safety factor for concrete, Re,3 the equivalent
flexural strength ratio, and h is the slab thickness (mm).
For design purposes it is assumed that the limiting criterion is
the onset of cracking on the top surface. While fibres increase
the ductility they do not affect the cracking stress, i.e. they do
not increase the negative bending moment capacity, Mn, which is
therefore given by following equation:
!
fctk;fl h
2 5.3 kg/m3 resulted in required slab thickness of 183 mm which
Mn ¼ ð5Þ
cc 6
The loadings considered were back-to-back pallet racking with
maximum leg load of 60 kN. A partial safety factor of 1.2 was used.
The ultimate load for determining the thickness of the ground sup-
ported slab was therefore 144 kN. Therefore Eq. (3) combined with
Eq. (4) and Eq. (5), becomes as follows:
( ! !)
fctk;fl h
2 2
fctk;fl h
144; 000 6 2p ðR Þ þ ð6Þ
cc e;3 6 cc 6
where fctk,fl was considered to be 4.2 N/mm2 and cc to be 1.5. The
above equation can then be re-arranged so as the required slab
thickness h can be expressed in terms of the different Re,3 values ob-
tained for the various fibres.
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
49136
hP ðmmÞ ð7Þ
Re;s þ 1
Values determined for minimum slab thicknesses required are
shown in Fig. 15. There are other checks required before the slab
thickness is considered to be satisfactory. TR34 [11] list these as
(a) ultimate load capacity under point loads acting on the edges
as well as corners, (b) ultimate load capacity under line and uni-
form loads, (c) punching shear capacity at the faces of loaded areas
and critical perimeters, and, (d) deflection, crack control and joint
opening for serviceability limit state design. All of these checks
were carried out and the slab thicknesses determined from Eq.
(7) and shown in Fig. 15 were found to be satisfactory.
Increasing fibre dosages resulted in lower required slab thick-
nesses which was as expected. The reductions however were not
very significant with only two of the fibre types HE 60 and WP
60 achieving reductions greater than 10 mm and this only with
an increase of the dosage from 30 to 50 kg/m3. More significant dif-
ferences in required slab thicknesses existed between the different
fibre types at the same dosage, e.g. slab thicknesses varied from
Fig. 15. Minimum slab thicknesses for the different fibre types and dosages.
178 to 192 mm for 30 kg/m3, 168 to 181 mm for 40 kg/m3 and
166 to 185 mm for 50 kg/m3.
The synthetic fibre at the dosage of 4.6 kg/m3 performed simi-
larly to the least performing of steel fibres requiring a slab thick-
ness of 192 mm. Increasing the dosage of the synthetic fibre to
was similar to two of the steel fibre types at the dosage of 50 kg/
m3. However, the required slab thickness was still considerably
higher than the 166 mm required for the best performing steel fi-
bre HE 60 at the dosage of 50 kg/m3.
6. Conclusions
The influence of shape, length and dosage of steel and synthetic
fibres on the flexural performance and other mechanical properties
of fibre reinforced concrete have been investigated. It appears that
the incorporation of steel fibres increased the compressive
strength by about 4 and 5 N/mm2 for fibre dosage rates of 30 kg/
m3 and 50 kg/m3. The increases in the compressive strength of syn-
thetic fibres is lower, about 2–3 N/mm2 for dosage rates of 4.5–
5.3 kg/m3. Incorporation of steel fibres also appeared to increase
only slightly the flexural strength, i.e. by about 0.4–0.6 N/mm2
for the plain concrete value of 4.2 N/mm2.
The most important parameters for the design of ground sup-
ported slabs, at least in the UK, are the flexural toughness and
the equivalent flexural strength ratio. The flexural toughness of
concrete increases considerably when steel and synthetic fibres
are used. However, equal dosages of different fibres did not result
in specimens with the same flexural toughness. Flexural toughness
differences of almost 35 J exist between the highest value of 80 J
obtained by the HE 60 and the WP 50 which gave the lowest value
of 35 J at the dosage of 30 kg/m3.
A comparison was made of the required ground supported slab
thicknesses for concretes made with different fibres. The thick-
nesses were calculated based on the equivalent flexural strength
ratio. Considerable differences existed in the minimum required
slab thicknesses determined for the different steel fibre types even
at the same dosage. It is advisable for designers to obtain data from
testing laboratories for the specific fibre type they intend to use.
This is needed, before finalising their design, to support values
used in preliminary estimation of required slab thickness. A change
710 M.N. Soutsos et al. / Construction and Building Materials 36 (2012) 704–710
in fibre type to be used will require it to be tested and the values of
equivalent flexural strength ratio determined. If found to be differ-
ent, then a reassessment of the slab thickness may be required.
Acknowledgements
The work reported here formed part of Dr T.T. Le’s research
work at Liverpool. His studies were funded by Ministry of Educa-
tion and Training in Vietnam and their financial support for this
work is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would also like to
thank Alexandros Hatzitheodorou and Kang Kang Tang who as-
sisted with all the experimental work described here.
References
[1] Parker F. Steel fibrous concrete for airport pavement applications. Technical
Report 5–74-12. US Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station. Vicksburg,
MS; 1974.
[2] Rollings RS. Corps of engineers design procedures for rigid airfield pavements.
In: second international conference on concrete pavement design. Purdue
University; 1981.
[3] The Concrete Society. Concrete industrial ground floors – a guide to their
design and construction. Slough. 2nd ed. Technical Report 34; 1994.
[4] Burgers R, Walraven J, Plizzari GA, Tiberti G. Structural behaviour of SFRC
tunnel segments during TBM operations. World Tunnel Congress ITA-AITES.
Prague; 2007. p. 1461–7.
[5] Jovičić V, Šušteršič J, Vukelič Z. The application of fibre reinforced shotcrete as
primary support for a tunnel in flysch. J. Tun Space Tech 2009;24(6):723–30.
[6] Gettu R, Barragán B, García T, Fernández C, Oliver R. Steel fiber reinforced
concrete for the Barcelona metro line 9 tunnel lining. In: 6th international
RILEM symposium on fibre-reinforced concretes (BEFIB’2004). Lake Como,
Italy; 1981. p. 141–56.
[7] Sorelli G, Meda A, PlizzarriG A. Steel fiber concrete slabs on ground: a
structural matter. ACI Struct J 2006;103(4):551–8.
[8] RILEM TC 162-TDF. Test and design method for steel fibre reinforced concrete.
Bending test. Final recommendation. Mater Struct 2002; 35: 579–2.
[9] RILEM TC 162-TDF. Test and design method for steel fibre reinforced concrete.
r–e design method. Mater Struct 2003; 36: 560–7.
[10] Richardson AE. Bond characteristics of structural polypropylene fibres in
concrete with regard to post-crack strength and durable design. Struct Survey
2005;23(3):210–30.
[11] Concrete Society. Concrete industrial ground floors: a guide to their design and
construction. 3rd ed. Technical Report No. 34; 2003.
[12] The Japan society of civil engineering (JSCE). Part III-2: Method of tests for steel
fiber reinforced concrete. Concrete library of JSCE. No. 3; 1984.
[13] Concrete Society. Concrete industrial ground floors: a guide to their design and
construction. 2nd ed. Technical Report No. 34; 1994.
[14] Westergaard HM. Stresses in concrete pavements computed by theoretical
analysis. J Pub Roads 1926;7(2):25–33.
[15] Hetenyi M. A general solution for the bending of beams on an elastic
foundation of arbitrary continuity. J Appl Phys 1950;21:55–8.
[16] Soutsos MN. Concrete durability: a practical guide to the design of durable
concrete structures. London: Thomas Telford; 2009.
[17] EFNARC three point bending test on square panel with notch, EFNARC; 2011.
[18] ACI 544.IR-96. State-of-the-art report on fibre reinforced concrete. Manual of
concrete practice. Farmington Hills; 1998.
[19] BS 1881–116. Method for determination of compressive strength of concrete
cubes; 1983.
[20] JSCE-SF4. Standard for flexural strength and flexural toughness, method of
tests for steel fiber reinforced concrete. Concrete library of JSCE, Japan
Concrete Institute (JCI); 1984. p. 58–66.