ACI STRUCTURAL JOURNAL
Title no. 86-85
Torsional Response of Reinforced Fibrous Concrete Beams
by M. A. Mansur, S. Nagataki, S. H. Lee, andY. Oosumimoto
Torsion tests of six reinforced fibrous concrete beams with supple-
mentary tests on fibrous concrete in direct tension and pullout tests
on individual fibers are reported. The major parameters of the study
were the volume fraction of fibers and percentage of bar reinforce-
ment. The cracking behavior of beams and their complete torsional
response were investigated. The softened truss model for conven-
tional reinforced concrete beams has been modified, and torque-twist
and torque-strain (both steel and concrete) curves were derived and
compared with test results. In general, a good agreement is obtained.
Keywords: beams (supports); bonding; crack width and spacing; ductility; fiber
reinforced concretes; metal fibers; strains; structural analysis; tests; torsion;
torsion tests.
Fiber reinforced concrete is a relatively new develop-
ment in concrete technology and has been the subject of
numerous investigations during the past two decades.
Various analytical and empirical models are now avail-
able to predict the strength of the composite in direct
tension, axial compression, and pure bending. ACI
Committee 544 has given a comprehensive account of
the development in fiber reinforced cement composites
in its recent state-of-the-art report.' Following the pub-
lication of this document, several investigations have
also been reported in pure torsion 2. 3 and torsion com-
bined with bending and shear 4 . 6 of concrete beams
reinforced with fibers alone.
Discrete fibers, however, can be more effectively
used in conjunction with continuous bar reinforce-
ment. Results of recent investigations have shown that
inclusion of short steel fibers in the concrete mix sig-
nificantly improves the cracking characteristics, defor-
mational behavior, and ultimate strength of reinforced
concrete beams in bending7-8 as well as in shear .9• 10 Sim-
ilar observations were also reported for beams sub-
jected to pure torsion 11 · 13 and torsion combined with
bending. 14 Although semi empirical relationships have
been proposed to account for the improved perfor-
mance, these tests are not fully documented to check
whether the existing torsion theories for nonfibrous
concrete are applicable to fibrous concrete beams as
well.
Among the various theories available in the litera-
ture, ' 5 researchers have a common consensus that the
36
TECHNICAL PAPER
space truss model is the most rational and powerful
model for dealing with torsional problems. It has gone
through several stages of development prior to reach-
ing its present form, as suggested by HsU. 16 He took
into account the softening effect of diagonal concrete
struts and successfully applied the model not only to
reinforced and prestressed concrete beams but also to
predicting the structural response of low-rise shear-
walls, framed wall panels, and deep beams where shear
action is predominant.
The primary objective of the present study was to
check the validity of Hsu's softened truss model for the
case when discrete fibers are incorporated in the con-
crete mix. Six prototype beams were tested in pure tor-
sion. To acquire basic information, torsion tests were
supplemented by direct tension tests on fibrous con-
crete and pullout tests on individual fibers. The results
of these tests are presented and discussed in this paper,
and the adequacy of the softened truss model has been
assessed.
RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
Current test results indicate that the softened truss
model can be applied with minor modifications to pre-
dict the postcracking torsional response of reinforced
fibrous concrete beams. This provides a basis for ra-
tionalizing the design of beams in which discrete fibers
are incorporated in the concrete mix.
PREDICTION OF TORSIONAL RESPONSE
Hsu, in his recent report, 16 has recast the space truss
model in a simple and elegant form. All the governing
equations derived from the three fundamental require-
ments -equilibrium, compatibility, and constitutive
relationships for pure torsion - are reproduced to
provide a ready reference and to enable comprehension
Received Jan. 13, 1987, and reviewed under Instit~te publication. policies.
Copyright © 1989, American Concrete Institute. All nghts reserved, mcludmg
the making of copies unless permission is obtained from the copynght propn·
etors. Pertinent discussion will be published in the November-December 1989
ACI Structural Journal if received by July I, 1989.
ACI Structural Journal I January-February 1989
ACI member M. A. Mansur is a senior lecturer of civil engineering at the Na-
8 = angle of twist; 1/; = curvature of concrete struts;
tional University of Singapore. He obtained his BSc Eng and MSc Eng from and Pn = perimeter of the shear flow path.
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, and his PhD
from the University of New South Wales, Australia, in 1979. His research in- Constitutive relationships
terests include reinforced and prestressed concrete, and advanced cementitious
composites.
Steel
J.. when f, ~ (f,.),
S. Nagataki is a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, Tokyo In-
stitute of Technology. He received his Dr. of Eng from the University of To- fr
(fy)l'
Es fl when fr < (fy)l } (12)
kyo in !966. Currently, much of his research work is on slag, fly ash, expan-
sive cement, and superplasticizers. He has wriuen numerous papers on these f. (fy), when f, ~ (f,,),
subjects. f. E, f, when f, < (fy), ]
(13)

S. H. Lee is a PhD candidate in the Department of Civil Engineering, Tokyo

where fy = yield stress of steel bars; fy = yield strain;
Institute of Technology. He received his BEng from Tohoku University and and Es = modulus of elasticity of steel bars.
MEng from Tokyo Institute of Technology. His research areas include tor-
sional behavior of concrete structures and structural analysis.
Concrete
Y. Oosumimoto graduated in civil engineering from Tokyo Institute of Tech-
(a) Compression
nology in /987. His research interests include torsional properties of reinforced
and prestressed concrete. He is currently working as an assistant engineer with
(14)
the Hazamagumi Ltd., a construction company in Japan.
in which
of the necessary changes for inclusion of fibers. For
brevity, background information that can be found in
Reference 16 is not included here.

Equilibrium equations

0 (I)

0 (2)

(3) (16)

(4)

where a = average normal stress; r = average shear

stress; p = reinforcement ratio; f = steel stress; T =
applied torque; te = effective wall thickness; A 0 = area
enclosed by the shear flow path; a = inclination of
cracks; and subscripts f, t and d, r represent the direc- te
tion of orthogonal coordinates for wall elements, as
shown in Fig. I.

Compatibility equations

fl fd cos 2a + E, sin 2a (5)

E = I Ed sin 2a + E, cos 2a (6)

BEAM

"f11 = 2(Ed - E,) sina · cosa (7) t r

'1~l
\ /d
8 = Po 'Yr/2A, (8)

1/; = 8·sin 2a (9)

ad
te = Ed,,/1/; (10) -'tlt
(bl ELEMENT 'A' IN (c) ELEMENT 'A' IN
Ed = Edm/2 (II)
l-t COORDINATES d- r COORD INATES
where E = average normal strains; 'Y average shear Fig. ]-Directions of orthogonal coordinates for wall
strains; Edm = maximum strain at the concrete surface; element
ACI Structural Journal I January-February 1989 37
where f 0 = strain at maximum stress of nonsoftened
concrete and is taken as - 0.002; and f: = cylinder
compressive strength based on 150 x 300 mm (6 x 12
in.) cylinders.
(b) Tension
a, = Ec f, when f, ~ Ea
a,= 0 when f, > Ea
where Ea = cracking strain of concrete in direct ten-
sion; and Ec = modulus of elasticity of concrete.
A careful examination of the previous governing
equations reveals that the only change needed to ac-
count for the inclusion of fibers is the constitutive re-
lationship for concrete. It has been well established'
that, in compression, the stress-strain relationship of
fibrous concrete does not vary significantly from that
of the basic concrete, except for the postpeak region.
However, in the present analysis the relationship as
represented by Eq. (14) through (16) is assumed to be
valid for fibrous concrete as well. It should be noted
however that f: should be determined for fibrous con-
crete instead of the corresponding plain concrete.
With the foregoing assumption, the only difference
that remains is the tensile response of fibrous concrete.
Fig. 2 shows a typical stress-strain curve for fibrous
concrete in direct tension, as reported in the litera-
ture. 17 While the initial straight portion before cracking
has been found to be nearly identical to that of plain
concrete, the postcracking behavior is completely dif-
ferent as the fibers bridging across the crack can resist
a significant amount of tension. The maximum stress
level aw after cracking depends primarily on concrete
strength and the geometry, surface characteristics, as-
pect ratio, and volume fraction of fibers. Usually, it is
smaller than the cracking strength of concrete because
the amount of fibers that can be added to a structural
concrete mix is limited by the bundling effect of fibers,
and this level continues to decrease as the crack wid-
ens. However, within the normal range of crack widths
that a structural member can experience before attain-
ing the ultimate condition, the postcracking stress-strain
relationship can be approximated by a horizontal
straight line, as shown in Fig. 2. Similar idealization
had been employed previously to analyze bending and
shear problems. 7•9
In the present analysis, use of the idealized stress-
strain relationship, as shown in Fig. 2, does not pose
] (17)
any problem. However, as the truss action activates in
a reinforced concrete beam only after the formation of
well-developed cracks, a rigid-plastic stress-strain rela-
tionship is assumed. This may be represented by
( 18)
The value of a'" can be estimated with a reasonable
degree of accuracy by using the following analytical
equation 17
(19)
where 11,. = length efficiency factor; 1lo = orientation
factor for fiber; vf = volume fraction of fiber; ef = fi-
ber length; r = ratio of fiber cross section to its perim-
eter; and r" = ultimate bond strength of fiber.
The factor 11,. depends on the critical length ( of the
fiber. If ef < eel i.e., if failure occurs by fiber pullout,
11r = 0.5. The value of 1lo depends on the distribution of
fibers. For three-dimensional random orientation, Ro-
mualdi and Mandel' 8 have analytically shown that 1lo =
0.405. However, this factor has been found to vary be-
tween 0.33 and 0.5. Thus, for a certain volume fraction
and type of fibers, a," can be determined from Eq. (19)
provided r" is known.
With the assumed stress-strain relationship for fi-
brous concrete in tension, there are a total of 17 gov-
erning equations involving 20 unknowns. These equa-
tions can be reduced to 6 involving ad, Ed"'' f , a, td, )\,
and K,. Substituting Eq. (12), (5), (11), and (18) into
Eq. (1), we have

~r -- - - TEST
17 Gage length (20a)
- - - - IDEALIZED 200mm
I
I t--"'1
I
I
p~P
..
Q.
I
I (20b)
:; I
I __.
.,"'w L----- Similarly, substitution of Eq. (13), (6), (11), and (19)
a:
....
"' I
6iu
Straight fibers
Diameter= 0.57
into Eq. (2) yields

Length :30

0
0
J
o.s
3
v, : 2 •t.

I
1.0 1.5
aw
- -when
p, Es
f, < (c..), (21)
STRAIN (•Hi )

In the case when E, > (fy), check whether Eq. (2) is sat-
Fig. 2-A typical stress-strain curve for fibrous con- isfied. It should be noted that p,. = A/Pate and p, =
crete in direct tension (1 MPa = 145 psi) A/st_, where A 1 = total amount of longitudinal steel;
38 ACl Structural Journal I January-February 1989
A, = area of one leg of stirrup; and s = stirrup spac- r--- 300 mm ----j 1smm
I
ing. Eq. (20) and (21) take the same form as derived by
Hsu 17 for nonfibrous concrete if a, is set to zero.
11
T ~~
~ a-10 mm ill
10mm p
at 120mm
'j,~u

12-10
T u
mmp
10 mm
at aomm
Ji
~'-"$
16-10 mm p
c

The expression for t, is not affected by the inclusion g long. long long.

10mmp c
of fibers and is given by a160mm

~~~ ~~~
SECTION A SECTION 8 SECTION C

(22)

Fig. 3-Reinjorcement details of test beams (I mm

The same iteration technique as used by Hsu may be
used to obtain the solution.
1. Select a value for E""' and E" = Edm/2.
2. Assume a value of E,.
3. Calculate)... from Eq. (15), K 1 from Eq. (16), and
ad from Eq. (14).
4. Assume a value of t, and calculate Ao and p,.
5. Check Er by Eq. (5), and hence calculate a from
Eq. (20).
6. Calculate t, by Eq. (22). Repeat Steps 4 and 5 un-
til t, is close to the assumed value.
7. Calculate E, from Eq. (21 ), if E, < (Ey),. If E, ~ (Ey),
check Eq. (2). E, can be calculated by Eq. (6). Repeat
Steps 2 through 6 until E, is close enough to the as-
sumed value or if Eq. (2) is not satisfied. A set of so-
lutions for E" )..., K 1, ad, a, and t, is thus obtained. The
deformation and force variables can then be calculated
from respective equations.
8. Select the other value of E""' in suitable increments
up to -0.0035 and repeat Steps 2 through 7 to obtain
the complete response.
TEST PROGRAM
The experimental program was comprised of six
prototype beam tests in pure torsion, direct tension tests
on fibrous concrete, and pullout tests on individual fi-
bers.
Beam tests
The details of test beams are shown in Table 1. All
beams were 300 mm 2 (12 in. 2 ) in cross section and 2.5
m (8 ft 2 in.) long. They were reinforced with approxi-
mately equal amounts of longitudinal and transverse
reinforcement. The major parameters of the study were
the percentage of continuous bar reinforcement and
volume fraction of discrete fibers. According to the
former variable, the beams were designated as A, B,
0.0394 in.)
and C, as shown in Fig. 3. The number following the
letter symbol represents the volume fraction of fibers in
percent (see Table 1). Deformed bars 10 mm (Ys in.) in
nominal diameter were used both as longitudinal rein-
forcement and transverse stirrups. The average yield
strength and modulus of elasticity were found to be
380.1 and 2.05 x 105 MPa (55 and 29.7 x 10' ksi). A
clear cover of 15 mm ( Vs in.) was used over the stirrups
on all four sides.
The same type of steel fibers were used throughout
the test program. They were straight fibers and slightly
twisted. The fibers selected for the present tests were
0.5 mm 2 in cross section and 30 mm (1.25 in.) long.
The concrete mix was made with high-early-strength
cement, natural sand, and crushed granite of 20 mm (%
in.) maximum size. Nonfibrous concrete for the beam
A-0.0 was prepared in the laboratory while the fibrous
concrete was delivered by a ready-mix company in two
batches containing 1 and 0.5 percent volume fraction of
fibers, respectively. After casting Beam A-0.5, the left-
over concrete from the second batch was mixed with an
additional 1 percent fiber for Beam A-1.5. The basic
mix proportions were 1 : 2.41 : 2.04, and the water-ce-
ment ratio was 0.57. Three 100 x 200 mm (4 x 8 in.)
cylinders were cast for each beam to determine the
compressive strength in addition to the specimens for
direct tension and pullout tests, as discussed later. The
beams and the control specimens were cured under
identical conditions before testing.
The beams were tested in a strain rate control ma-
chine under a constant rate. The central 1 m (3 ft, 3 in.)
length of the beam was considered as the test zone.
Torsional rotations were measured by placing a set of
linear variable displacement transducers (L VDTs) un-
der four arms projected normal to the beam axis. A

Table 1 - Beam details

Residual
Amount Area of tensile
Volume of one Spacing Compressive strength
fraction longitudinal stirrup of strength of
of steel leg stirrups of concrete• concrete
fibers A,, A,. S, J:, u,u,
Beam v,, mm' mm' mm MPa MPa
A-0.0 0.0 570 120 32.8 0.00
A-0.5 0.5 570 120 25.8 0.47
A-1.0 1.0 570 71.3 120 21.4 0.82
A-1.5 1.5 570 120 28.0 1.42
B-1.0 1.0 856 80 21.4 0.82
C-1.0 1.0 1141 60 21.4 0.82
*100 x 200 mm cylinder compressive strength.
Note: I mm = 0.03937 in.; I MPa = 145 psi.

ACI Structural Journal I January-February 1989 39

similar method was used and described by Mansur and
Lim.'' Three 10 mm ( Ys in.) long electrical resistance
strain gages fixed at a spacing of 50 mm (2 in.) on one
of the corner longitudinal bars and similar gages on
three consecutive stirrups at middepth recorded the
strains E, and E, in the longitudinal and transverse rein-
forcement, respectively. Diagonal concrete strains Edm
were also measured by electrical resistance strain gages,
but the gage length was 30 mm (I Y4 in.). Three such
gages were mounted on the beam surface at middepth
with an inclination of 45 deg to the beam axis, i.e.,
along the anticipated direction of cracks. The number
of cracks within the test zone were recorded on one of
the vertical faces of the beam, and their widths were
measured by a hand-held microscope having an accu-
racy of ± 0.001 mm (0.0004 in.).
Fig. 4-Setup for direct tension test
Fig. 5-Polystyrene sheet with partially embedded fi-
bers
40
Tension tests
To establish the critical a," value in the assumed
stress-strain relationship, three concrete specimens for
each volume fraction of fibers were tested in direct ten-
sion. To be compatible with the existing testing facili-
ties, 60 x 60 x 300 mm (2Yz x 2Y2 x 12 in.) prisms were
selected for these tests. Two 5 mm deep triangular
grooves were formed on two opposite faces of the
specimens at midlength to provide relative weakness for
the formation of cracks. The specimens were bonded to
a steel plate at each end by using a special type of ad-
hesive.
An overall view of the test setup is shown in Fig. 4.
The load was applied to the end plates at a constant
cross-head movement of 0.5 mm/min. To insure true
axial loading, each end plate was connected to a
threaded bar through a universal joint. Strains were
measured by electrical resistance strain gages prior to
cracking, but after the formation of cracks a set of
LVDTs was used over a gage length of 100 mm (4 in.).
Fiber pullout tests
For a particular type and volume fraction of fibers,
the tensile response of fibrous concrete depends pri-
marily on the interfacial bond strength which is, in
turn, a function of the concrete strength. In this study,
this basic property was determined by pullout tests. A
special method was devised for this purpose.
Individual fibers selected at random were first in-
serted vertically in a 50 mm (2 in.) thick, 100 mm (4 in.)
wide, and 400 mm (16 in.) long polystyrene sheet, each
through a small piece of relatively hard styrofoam, 4
mm (% in.) thick, as shown in Fig. 5. This small piece
was intended to absorb any unintentional disturbances
during subsequent handling. The length of the fibers
projected beyond the sheet was varied depending on the
embedment length required, and the fibers were spaced
30 mm (1.25 in.) apart to allow free flow of the con-
crete.
The polystyrene sheets, each containing a total of 21
embedded fibers, were then inserted in 100 x 100 x 400
mm prism molds. Concrete was poured at two ends of
the mold and adequate compaction was achieved by
using a mold vibrator. After demolding, the polysty-
rene sheet was lifted gently and the free ends of the fi-
bers were spray-painted to avoid rusting and to provide
an additional check for the depth of embedment before
putting it back in position for subsequent curing of the
specimen.
A testing machine with a minimum loading range of
20 kg (44 !b) was used. The specimen with embedded
fibers was clamped against one of the machine plat-
terns, and fibers were individually pulled out by the
other using a precision drill bit holder through a uni-
versal joint (see Fig. 6).
TEST RESULTS
The general behavior of a reinforced fibrous con-
crete beam in pure torsion has been found to be essen-
tially similar to that of a nonfibrous concrete beam.
ACI Structural Journal I January-February 1989
Fig. 6-Fiber pullout test Fig. 7-Cracking patterns of the beams in A-Series

35~----------------· 35~---------------,
Table 2 summarizes the observed cracking torques.
These values were based on the loading steps (instead of
the exact load) at which the first visible cracks were
noted on the beam surface, and were later substantial
by the respective torque-twist and torque-strains curves.
It may be seen in Table 2 that the cracking torques re-
mained approximately the same irrespective of the vol-
ume of both continuous and discrete reinforcement.
The crack control characteristics, however, varied sig-
nificantly. It can be noted from Fig. 7 that, for a con-
stant amount of bar reinforcement, use of a higher vol- (a) (b)
ume fraction of fibers provides more closely spaced 15 15
oL-----~----~---~ o~----~----~---~
cracks. Closer spacing means narrower crack widths, 0 Q.1 0·2 ().3 0 0.2 ().4 0.6

AV. C~ACK WIDTH( mm) MAX. CRACK WIDTH ( mm)

and this is obvious from Fig. 8 in which average and
maximum crack widths are presented for beams in A- Fig. 8-Effect of volume fraction of fibers on crack
series. control (1 kNm = 0. 738 kip-ft; 1 mm = 0.0394 in.)

Table 2 - Test results and comparison with theoretical predictions

Cracking Ultimate torque Ultimate twist
torque Test Calculated Test, Calculated
T,, T,.,.•,, T"·'"' ()"·""
T,,. ""' ()"·""' fi,,..."
Beam kNm kNm kNm T"·"" deg/m deg/m II"·'·'"
A-0.0 18.72 28.06 29.88 0.94 2.617 2.610 1.00
A-0.5 16.65 27.34 31.16 0.88 2.617 3.070 0.85
A-1.0 17.24 29.01 32.07 0.91 3.027 3.281 0.92
A-1.5 17.33 34.67 36.86 0.94 3.017 3.054 0.99
B-1.0 17.24 36.46 35.81 1.02 3.417 3.117 1.10
C-1.0 17.28 40.86 38.35 1.07 3.383 2.787 1.21
Note: I kNm = 0.738 k1p-ft; I deg/m = 0.305 deg/ft.

ACI Structural Journal I January-February 1989 41

 A careful observation of the experimental torque- crete beam A-0.0 registered an ultimate torque higher
twist curves reveals that the inclusion of fibers has no than Beam A-0.5 because of higher concrete strength, a
substantial influence either on torsional stiffness or on comparison of test results of Beams A-0.5, A-1.0, and
torsional ductility of the beams that are in direct con- A-1.5 in Table 2 shows a definite trend. Similarly,
flict with the previous findings.''- 13 The relatively high within the range of parameters employed in the present
transverse steel ratio employed in the present tests may study, an increase in the amount of continuous rein-
be the possible reason for overshadowing the effect of forcement provided better crack control and higher ul-
fibers. However, the torsional moment capacity in- timate torque. The previous observations with regard to
creased quite significantly. Although nonfibrous con- the effect of fibers had also been reported by previous
researchers. 7•12 •13
Gage length
Of particular interest in this study was predicting the
--TEST
~
torsional response of reinforced fibrous concrete
- - - E0.1g 1·mm1
r--, P~P
beams. As discussed in the section before the last, this
I ', requires a constitutive relationship for fibrous concrete
" ~300 mm ---.J
.. I \
', in direct tension which, in turn, depends on the bond
a.
:;

"'"'a:
UJ
\
\I
~
"
...........

~-------=~~~~=====-======~1
, 1 v ;1.s'/,
--- 1
strength of fibers.
To establish the stress-strain relationship, three spec-
imens for each volume fraction of fibers were tested in
.... \ ', direct tension, the average curves being presented in
"' 1 \ ', v1=1.0 '/,
---~---~-----=====~~====~ Fig. 9. It can be seen that the relationship is linear be-
', v1=o.s •t,. fore the initiation of cracks. At cracking, the applied
------~------------------
load suddenly dropped with a corresponding increase in
oo~----~'L_______~4--------~s'--------~al~ strains measured over a gage length of 100 mm (4 in.).
3
The dotted lines in Fig. 9 indicate the region for which
STRAIN ( •10- )
no measurement was possible due to sudden localized
deformation at the crack. The specimens then contin-
Fig. 9- Tensile stress-strain curves for prism (1 MPa = ued to deform at approximately the same load up to the
145 psi) domain of interest (crack width 1 mm). Fig. 9 shows
that the postcracking tensile strength increases with an
200r-------------------------------,
p increase in the volume fraction of fibers.
Styrof~am
Fiber t The pullout test results of fibers embedded in the two
- " _l batches of fibrous concrete, one with Vr = 1 percent
somm and the other with Vr = 0.5 percent (with additional 1
percent fibers being added later to the second batch to
100
Slope= 4.12 Ntmm
' 2
obtain Vr = 1.5 percent), are presented in Fig. IO(a) and
(b), respectively. Observe that the relationship between
the pullout ioad and the embedded surface area of fi-
bers is approximately linear. The slope of the best-fit
z (a) Concrete balch line, which indicates the ultimate bond strength r", has
with v,=1 '/o been determined for each batch of concrete by linear
0
<( regression analysis, and its value is indicated in the re-
0 0
....J
0 10 20 30 spective figure .
1-
::::>
0
....J
....J (b) Concrete balch with
::::>
v1= o.s"lo and V,=1.5Dfo COMPARISON WITH THEORETICAL
0.
0 PREDICTIONS
If the ultimate bond strength r, of fibers is known,
postcracking tensile strength a,, of fibrous concrete can
100 be calculated easily by using Eq. (19). In the present
analysis, an orientation factor 'Y'fo of 0.33 instead of
0.405, as suggested by Romualdi and Mandel, 18 has
been found to give good correlation with the current
2
N /mm test data (Fig. 9). Since all fibers failed by complete
pullout, 'Y'fr is taken as 0.5. The calculated values of a,"
are shown in Table 1. These values are used in Eq. (18)
10 to predict the torsional response of reinforced fibrous
DEPTH OF EMBEDMENT • PERIMETER (mn/) concrete beams reported in this study. The concrete
strength!; (Table 1) determined in the present study by
Fig. 10-Determination of ultimate bond strength (1 using 100 x 200 mm (4 x 8 in.) cylinders has been con-
mm = 0.0394 in.; 1 N = 0.225 /bf) verted to 150 x 300 mm (6 x 12 in.) cylinder compres-
42 ACI Structural Journal I January-February 1989
sive strength. A conversion factor of 1.06 valid only for In a manner similar to the torque-twist response,
plain concrete is adopted for fiber concrete too. torque versus average steel (both longitudinal and
The theoretical torque-twist curves of the specimens transverse) strains and torque versus the average of
with varying amounts of discrete fibers and continuous maximum concrete strain Edm curves may also be com-
reinforcement are compared with the experimental re- pared. Fig. 13 shows torque versus longitudinal steel
sults in Fig. 11 and 12, respectively. Both figures indi- strain E1 curves for three selected beams. Although a
cate a considerable difference during the initial stage of considerable difference exists during the initial stages of
loading. This discrepancy is obvious because the truss loading, the theoretical curves fit the experimental re-
model is based on a fully cracked section, whereas the lationships quite well once the beam is cracked. The
actual beam is not cracked until reaching a high load theoretical curves plotted in Fig. 14 showing the rela-
level. After cracking, however, the two curves become tionship between the applied torque and the maximum
reasonably close to each other. compressive strain of concrete Edm at the beam surface
The calculated ultimate torques T" and the corre- for typical beams also indicate a good agreement with
sponding angle of twist 8" are presented and compared the experimental results.
with test data in Table 2. It can be seen that the theo-
retical predictions are in fairly good agreement with ex- CONCLUDING REMARKS
perimental values. The ratio of Tu.,,s/Tu,calc varies from In this study, only a limited test program was carried
0.88 to 1.07 with an average of 0.96. Similarly, the ra- out to investigate the effect of short steel fibers on tor-
tio of 8u,tes/8u.calcvaries within a range of 0.85 and 1.21, sional behavior of reinforced concrete beams. Test re-
the average being 1.01. sults indicate that inclusion of fibers in the concrete mix

TEST
40 40
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I I 10 I I
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I A-1.5 /A-0.5 I A-0.0 I A-1.0
I I
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I
I I I I
0 I I
0 0 0 0 2 3 0
0 0 1 0 2 3 4
Twist (de g. I m) -3
Strain (X10 )

Fig. II- Torque-twist curves for specimens in A -Series Fig. I3- Torque versus longitudinal steel strain t1
(I kNm = 0. 738 kip-ft; I deglm = 0.305 deglft) curves for typical beams (I kNm = 0. 738 kip-ft)

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0 L _ __ ___J.__ _ L__ ____l_ _ L __ __L_ __ , _ _ _ - - ' - - - - - - - ' 0 L _ __ __L__ _ L . - - - - - ' - - ._ _ ___J__ _L __ __L_ __j

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Twist ( deg./m) 3
Strain (xH) J

Fig. I2-Torque-twist curves for Specimens A-I.O, B-

I.O, and C-I.O (I kNm = 0.738 kip-ft; I deglm Fig. I4- Torque versus concrete compressive strain fctm
0.305 deglft) curves for typical beams (I kNm = 0. 738 kip-ft)
ACl Structural Journal I January-February 1989 43
has no significant influence on cracking strength, tor-
sional stiffness, and ductility of a beam, for the spe-
cific tests performed in this study where the effect of
fibers was somewhat overshadowed by the relatively
high transverse steel ratio used. However, it increases
the ultimate strength and provides substantial improve-
ment in crack control.
The major objective of the study was to predict ana-
lytically the complete torsional response of such beams.
The softened truss model, as proposed by Hsu, 16 was
considered by assuming a simplified stress-strain rela-
tionship for fibrous concrete in direct tension. This re-
lationship can be obtained if the ultimate bond strength
between the fiber and the concrete is known. The the-
ory, as briefly reported here, gives reasonably good
predictions of the torque-twist and torque-strain (both
concrete and steel) response of the test beams. It can
therefore be taken as a basis for rationally incorporat-
ing the effect of fibers in design. Keeping the salient
features, the theory can be refined by conducting addi-
tional study on the softening response of fibrous con-
crete in tension and compression.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The work reported here was supported in part by Hitachi Scholar-
ship Foundation through a fellowship offered to the first author dur-
ing his sabbatical leave at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan. The
authors wish to thank Messrs. T. Okamoto, T. Inoue. A. Nakai, and
other members of the Nagataki Laboratory for their assistance in the
test program. The fibers required for the study were donated by
N. K. K.
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44
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.. 2079.
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14. Batson, Gordon; Terry, Terry; and Chang, Ming-Sung, "Fiber
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ACl Structural Journal I January-February 1989