HBRC Journal (2016) xxx, xxx–xxx

Housing and Building National Research Center

HBRC Journal

http://ees.elsevier.com/hbrcj

Punching shear behavior of reinforced concrete

slabs using steel fibers in the mix
Ahmed M. Abdel-Rahman, Nasr Z. Hassan *, Adel M. Soliman

Civil Eng. Dept., Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt

Received 7 September 2016; revised 19 October 2016; accepted 6 November 2016

KEYWORDS Abstract One of the major problems of flat slab is the punching shear failure of slab-column con-
Flat slab; nection. This form of failure must be avoided.
Steel fiber; Fourteen slab-column connections are tested to failure and categorized in two phases. The first
Punching shear; ‘‘Phase I” consisted of testing ten interior square slabs axially loaded. The second ‘‘Phase II” con-
Failure load sisted of testing four specimens under eccentric loading to study the influence of moment transfer at
the slab-column connection on the punching shear failure of the slabs. The main parameters eval-
uated were, fiber volume ratio which was 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% and, punching area as dimensions
of the square portion of the slab having steel fibers at the column vicinity of lengths d + 200 mm,
2d + 200 mm and 3d + 200 mm. All slabs have same dimensions of 1700 mm  1700 mm with
thickness 150 mm and reinforcement ratio of 1.2%. All tested specimens were loaded incrementally
up to failure. However using steel fiber increased both the failure load and energy absorbing capac-
ity. Summarily, it was found that slabs with a 1.5% steel fiber ratio led to high failure load capacity.
Results showed that using steel fiber only in a portion of slab that is equal to slab thickness from
column face was sufficient to give the optimum enhancement in both failure load and ductility
behavior. Three-dimensional finite element model was created to using ANSYS R14.5 ANSYS
(2012) program to simulate the behavior of the tested specimens. Crack pattern, mode of failure
and energy absorption were analyzed here in this study.
Ó 2016 Housing and Building National Research Center. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is
an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Introduction

* Corresponding author.
From a structural aspect, the main reason for adding fibers is
to improve the fracture characteristics and structural behavior
E-mail address: nzenhom@yahoo.com (N.Z. Hassan).
through the fibers ability to bridge cracks. Fiber bridging over
Peer review under responsibility of Housing and Building National
Research Center.
the cracks leads to increased shear, punching and moment
resistance, reduced crack spacing and crack widths, increased
flexural stiffness and increased ductility in compression.
Steel fiber reinforcement concrete (SFRC) [1] is considered
Production and hosting by Elsevier as a method of strengthening structural elements such as flat
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hbrcj.2016.11.001
1687-4048 Ó 2016 Housing and Building National Research Center. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Please cite this article in press as: A.M. Abdel-Rahman et al., Punching shear behavior of reinforced concrete slabs using steel fibers in the mix, HBRC Journal (2016),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hbrcj.2016.11.001
2 A.M. Abdel-Rahman et al.
slabs [2,3], and it was used to enhance flexural strength and
punching shear strength of the concrete slabs. This current
research program was conducted to study enhancing the
behavior of punching shear of reinforced concrete flat slabs
by adding steel fiber in the mix. An experimental study was
conducted for fourteen reinforced concrete slabs. Two speci-
mens were casted without steel fiber as control specimens,
one for axially centric loaded specimens and the other for
eccentric loaded to study the effect of applying moment. The
other twelve specimens considered the variation of steel fiber
volume fraction which was 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% and the
square area of fiber from column edge with length d, 2d and
3d, while there are three specimens of eccentric loaded of steel
fiber volume fraction 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% only at a distance
d from column face. This research includes studying the crack
patterns, failure modes, loads deflection relationship, steel
strains, the stiffness degradation, ductility ratio, energy
absorption, and stiffness degradation.
Experimental program
The experimental study was carried out on fourteen full
scale slab-column connections were tested to failure with
Fig. 1
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dimensions 1700 mm  1700 mm and thickness 150 mm, and
the reinforcement ratio was constant for all slabs of 1.2%.
Fig. 1 indicates the dimensions and reinforcement details of
one slab. These slabs were divided into five groups A, B, C,
D and E. The first group A has the control specimens without
steel fiber and consists of two slabs, one loaded axially and the
other has eccentric load. The second group B consists of three
specimens of different steel fiber volume fractions 0.5%, 1.0%
and 1.5% respectively but with constant length of square area
from column face having steel fiber equal to d. The other
groups C and D were the same as group B, but with different
lengths of square area from column face having steel fiber
equal to 2d and 3d respectively. The last group E was the same
as group B, but they were tested under eccentric load to create
applying moment. Table 1 summarizes the specimen details of
the experimental program.
This study includes also the effect of each variable on crack
pattern, stiffness, energy absorption, and ductility ratio of the
tested slabs. From these parameters the enhancement of the
behavior of punching shear of reinforced concrete slabs by
adding steel fiber in the mix around the column can be deter-
mined considering the following:
1. Effect of steel fiber volume fraction.
Details of the tested specimen (A1).
Punching shear behavior of reinforced concrete slabs 3

Table 1 Test program and specimen details.

Group Symbol Slab dimensions Fiber volume Area of fiber from Test load
L  L  t mm  mm  mm fraction% column edge
(A) Control A1 1700  1700  150 0% 0 Axial load
A2 1700  1700  150 0% 0 Applied moment
(B) B1 1700  1700  150 0.5% d*d Axial load
B2 1700  1700  150 1.0% d*d Axial load
B3 1700  1700  150 1.5% d*d Axial load
(C) C1 1700  1700  150 0.5% 2d * 2d Axial load
C2 1700  1700  150 1.0% 2d * 2d Axial load
C3 1700  1700  150 1.5% 2d * 2d Axial load
(D) D1 1700  1700  150 0.5% 3d * 3d Axial load
D2 1700  1700  150 1.0% 3d * 3d Axial load
D3 1700  1700  150 1.5% 3d * 3d Axial load
(E) E1 1700  1700  150 0.5% d*d Applied moment
E2 1700  1700  150 1.0% d*d Applied moment
E3 1700  1700  150 1.5% d*d Applied moment

Material characteristics

The concrete mix used in the tested slabs consisted of Portland

cement, sand, gravel, and water with ratios of 1:2.13:2.96:0.54
by weight respectively. All used materials match with ECP 203
limits [4]. The main longitudinal reinforcement has yield stress
of 400 MPa for 16 mm diameter bars and 500 MPa for 10 mm
diameter bars. The average characteristic concrete strength of
tested cubes was 30 MPa. Steel fibers of 500 mm length,
0.52 mm width and 0.72 mm thickness each used to be added
to the concrete mix with a variable volume fraction ratio
Fig. 2. The yield stress of the steel fiber is 400 MPa [2].
Fig. 2 Steel fiber.
Test setup
2. Effect of increasing the square area around the column hav-
ing steel fiber in the mix. The tests were carried out in the reinforced concrete laboratory
3. Effect of axially and eccentrically loaded specimens taking of the Faculty of Engineering, El-Mataria, Helwan University.
the effect of moment into consideration. A very rigid steel frame consisting of horizontal and vertical

(2) Hydraulic jack

(5) Load cell
(4) Point load
(4) Plates
(8) Dial Gauges
(3) Column 200X200

(6) Specimen

(7) Horizontal I-Beams

(1) Frame

Fig. 3a Test setup and loading system of groups B, C and D.

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4 A.M. Abdel-Rahman et al.
Fig. 3b Test setup and loading system of group E.
Fig. 4 Electrical strain gauges location.
I-sections was used as a base to support a slab specimen. The
load was applied vertically using a hydraulic jack with maxi-
mum capacity 1000 kN centric or eccentric of the column axis.
A system of rigid steel I beams was used to transverse the
applied single concentrated load coming from load cell directly
i) Bottom View
Fig. 5
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to the axis of the column centrically (groups B, C and D) or
eccentrically (group E) using rigid steel plate Fig. 3a and b.
Measurements
To record vertical deflection of slab specimens, four dial
gauges were used to record vertical deflection of the slabs at
various locations, the gauges were installed on the top surface
of slab, and two gauges were attached exactly at the column
face, one from each side to measure the central deflection of
the slab. The other two gauges were installed at the mid-
point between the column face and the edge of the slab Fig. 3a.
An electric resistance gauge (10 mm length, 120 ohms resis-
tance with gauge factor of 2.10) was mounted and glued to the
main reinforcement. The locations of the strain gauges are
shown in Fig. 4. The applied load was measured incrementally
during loading till failure.
Crack patterns
For all slabs first crack was initiated at early stage of loading
and then propagated as the applied load increased. At early
stage of loading, micro cracks propagated parallel to the bot-
tom reinforcement mesh. It was noted that these cracks had no
influence on the final failure mode. With the increase in the
applied load, these cracks became wider and propagated in
several directions (normally diagonal directions). In the mean-
time, more cracks occurred and propagated in the similar man-
ner as the earlier cracks did. Figs. 5, 6 and 8 indicate the view
of crack pattern from top and bottom of specimens A1, B2 and
E1 respectively. Main reinforcement ratio has been chosen to
ensure that the ultimate flexure failure load is bigger than
punching failure load value.
Test results
Mode of failure
Almost the main mode of failure of all specimens was punch-
ing shear failure that occurred suddenly in a brittle manner in
the column vicinity [6–8]. For the control specimen A1 Fig. 5,
the failure occurred at a load level of 275 kN and for the spec-
imen B2 Fig. 6 (specimen with steel fiber ratio of 1.0%), the
failure occurred at a load level of 320 kN. However the failure
A1
A1
ii) Top View
Crack pattern for specimen A1.
Punching shear behavior of reinforced concrete slabs
i) Bottom View
Fig. 6
Fig. 7 Crack pattern for specimen A2.
mechanism of the specimen B2 was more ductile than that of
the specimens A1, yet it is still brittle failure. The relatively
ductile behavior of B3 over that of A1 resulted from the con-
tribution of the steel fiber in increasing the punching shear
cone area. For example in the case of specimen A1, the radius
of the punching cone was measured to be about 1.1d from the
column face. This value was noted at the bottom surface of the
slab which is almost the typical value of punching shear failure
cone of typical concrete flat slabs. The crack patterns and fail-
ure surface of the specimen A1 were compatible to the ACI
i) Bottom View
Fig. 8
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5
B2
B2
ii) Top View
Crack pattern for specimen B2.
318-14, where the punching cone starts at the column face with
a cone angle of 45°. The radius of the punching cone in the
case of the Specimen B3 was found to be about 1.7d from
the column face with an increase of 30% compared to that
of the Specimen A1.
For specimen E1, (the specimen with 0.5% steel fiber ratio),
the first crack observed at a load of 100 kN, with increasing the
applied load, more radial and tangential shear cracks [5] was
noted on the bottom of the slab (tension side). Closer to the
failure load, tangential cracks were dominated by a major
punching shear crack forming the punching cone. The failure
occurred suddenly around the slab-column connection at a
load level of 225 kN. The radius of punching cone was noted
to be about 1.25d from the column face, similar to the control
slab A2. The cracks concentrated more at the left side of the
slab where the moment was applied. The crack patterns of
specimens A2 and E1 are shown in Figs. 7 and 8 respectively.
Load deflection relationship
Referring to Tables 2 and 3, it can be noticed that the mea-
sured deflection of all slabs with steel fiber in the mix is smaller
than that of the control specimens slabs A1 and A2. It shows
that the maximum deflection was in the center of the specimen
and as the distance increases from the column center the deflec-
E1
E1
ii) Top View
Crack pattern for specimen E1.
6 A.M. Abdel-Rahman et al.

Table 2 Test results of axially loaded specimens.

Group Symbol Cracking stage Failure stage Ductility index (ld) Absorbed energy (kN mm)
Pcr (kN) Dcr (mm) PU (kN) DU (mm)
Group A A1 125 6.45 275 16.6 12.00 4430
Group B B1 150 6.50 300 15.1 8.50 7145
B2 150 5.15 320 15.98 8.24 8446.5
B3 150 4.51 400 19.03 10.50 12079.75
Group C C1 150 7.92 335 17.55 13.00 10708
C2 150 6.85 350 17.17 10.90 8985.6
C3 150 5.60 375 16.57 10.25 8307.5
Group D D1 150 6.65 345 13.57 9.50 5780
D2 150 5.09 369 11.83 8.30 7328.5
D3 150 3.69 385 11.39 7.50 7640

Table 3 Test results of eccentrically loaded specimens.

Group Symbol Cracking stage Failure stage Ductility index (ld) Absorbed energy (kN mm)
Pcr (kN) Mcr (kN m) Dcr (mm) PU (kN) MU (kN m) Du (mm)
Group A A2 96.7 19.34 3.82 201.7 40.34 9.53 4.90 1760
Group E E1 100 20 3.46 225 45 10.08 5.30 2256.5
E2 100 20 3.02 238 47.6 9.98 5.65 2628.2
E3 115.9 23 2.57 250 50 10.05 5.73 3228

400 400
350 A1 350 A1
300 B1 D1
300
Load (KN)

250 B2 D2
Load (KN)

B3 250 D3
200
150 200
100 150
50 100
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 50
Central Deflection (mm) 0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Fig. 9 Load-central deflection for specimens of group B. Central Deflection (mm)

Fig. 11 Load-central deflection for specimens of group D.

400
300
350 A1
A2
C1 250
300 E1
C2
Load (KN)

200
Load (KN)

250 E2
C3
200 150 E3
150
100
100
50 50

0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 0 5 10 15 20
Central Deflection (mm) Central Deflection (mm)

Fig. 10 Load-central deflection for specimens of group C. Fig. 12 Load-central deflection for specimens of group E.

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Punching shear behavior of reinforced concrete slabs
Fig. 13
Fig. 14 LINK180 Geometry ANSYS R14.5 [10].
tion is much decreased with almost symmetrical shape from
both sides of the column toward small values at support. This
means that using steel fiber in the mix enhances the stiffness
and ductility of all slabs. The amount of stiffness-regain
depends on the location of steel fiber in the slab. Figs. 9–12
indicate the load–central deflection curve for groups B, C, D
and E respectively relative to its corresponding control speci-
men A1 or A2
Ductility index and absorbed energy
Also the ductility index and absorbed energy [9] calculated for
each slab specimen relative to control slab are listed in Tables 2
and 3 for all specimens. As a result of the brittle nature of the
failure mode of the slabs, the main reinforcement did not reach
their yield point. The energy absorption based on displacement
was calculated as the area under the load-deflection curve.
Similar conclusion was made earlier regarding the relationship
between the steel fiber ratio and ductility behavior of the slabs
in terms of energy absorption. It was noted that the higher the
steel fiber ratio, the higher the energy absorption value and
consequently the better ductility behavior of the slabs.
Finite elements and numerical analysis
The finite element program, ANSYS R14.5 [10], program was
used in this study to simulate the behavior of the fourteen slabs
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7
Solid65 element for concrete model.
tested previously. The finite element model describes the used
reinforced concrete element, modeling of concrete in tension,
and multi axial compression state of stresses. Also, the crack-
ing model behavior of concrete is introduced.
An eight-node solid element, solid65, was used to model the
concrete as solid element Fig. 13, which has eight nodes with
three degrees of freedom at each node, translations in x, y,
and z directions. A three dimensional element link 180 was
used to model the steel reinforcement, the element has two
nodes, and each node has three translations degrees of free-
dom, in x, y, and z directions as shown in Fig. 14. Steel fibers
are a randomly distributed matrix mixed with concrete caused
significant changes in concrete properties. Based on the previ-
ous statement, fibrous concrete can be represented as a new
material with new elastic modulus (Es), tensile strength (ft),
and compressive strength (fc). The relation between material
properties for the concrete without fibers and that provided
with fibers was used in modeling fibrous concrete in ANSYS
program.
In addition to these properties ANSYS program has a
parameter described the crack surface bt with open and closed
state. These factors play an important role for modeling fiber
reinforced concrete. Fig. 15 represents stress-stain curve of
(SFRC), and Fig. 16 shows the influence of fiber content on
tensile strength.
Figs. 17–22 indicate details of the numerical models repre-
sented in ANSYS program as concrete mesh and steel mesh for
all groups A, B, C and E.
8 A.M. Abdel-Rahman et al.

Fig. 18 Concrete mesh for groups B, C and D.

Fig. 15 Stress strain curve in compression of SFRC [11].

Fig. 16 Influence of fiber content on tensile strength [11].

Fig. 19 Concrete mesh for A2.

Fig. 17 Concrete mesh for A1. Fig. 20 Concrete mesh for Group E.

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Punching shear behavior of reinforced concrete slabs 9

The numerical results are presented in terms of the load car-

rying capacity, modes of failure and crack pattern. Test exper-
imental results presented are compared with those calculated
from the finite element program and represented in Table 4.

Conclusions

Phase I: axially loaded slabs

1. All tested specimens of this phase have been failed in a typ-

ical punching shear mode of failure. It was noted that the
less the steel fiber ratio the more brittle the failure was.
The failure was very brittle in nature and sudden. Once
the failure occurred, the slab did not carry any further load.
The higher the steel fiber ratio was the more ductile behav-
ior was noted. Yet the failure was still due to punching
shearing stresses.
Fig. 21 Steel reinforcement mesh for groups B, C and D.
2. The crack patterns for all these specimens were identical.
The significant discrepancy among them was noted closer
to their failure load in terms of ductility ratio and dimen-
sions of the punching failure cone. Increasing the steel fiber
ratio significantly improved the slab ductility and increased
the projected area of the punching failure cone.
3. The results of specimens of Phase I of the research work
showed that the punching cone angle of the slabs with steel
fibers less than or equal to 0.5% was 45 degree. This value
decreased with the increase in the steel fiber ratio to 1.0%
or 1.5%. For un-fibered specimens or those with low steel
fiber ratio, the punching failure cone starts at the column
face as predicted in most of the available codes and stan-
dard guidelines. With the increase in the steel fiber ratio
the failure plane switched away from the column face
toward the weak planes in the slabs. Punching outside the
fibered-concrete zone was observed in slabs B1, C1 and
D1. Precisely, the failure was developed by localization of
the strains in a critical shear plane closer to the edge of
the zone with steel fiber. As the result of increasing the zone
with steel fiber, punching cone was always observed inside
Fig. 22 Steel reinforcement mesh for group E. the fibered-zone.

Table 4 Comparison experimental and finite element predicted results.

Group Symbol Experimental Numerical Num./Exp.
PU (kN) DU (mm) PU (kN) DU (mm) Load Deflection
Group A A1 275 16.6 290 13.24 1.054 0.798
A2 201.7 9.53 160 4.48 0.793 0.470
Group B B1 300 15.1 320 9.65 1.066 0.639
B2 320 15.98 350 10.70 1.094 0.670
B3 400 19.03 370 11.17 0.925 0.587
Group C C1 335 17.55 350 15.51 1.045 0.884
C2 350 17.17 360 16.36 1.029 0.953
C3 375 16.57 390 14.12 1.040 0.852
Group D D1 345 13.57 360 14.17 1.200 1.044
D2 369 11.83 380 13.89 1.152 1.174
D3 385 11.39 400 10.73 1.066 0.942
Group E E1 225 10.08 180 4.05 0.800 0.402
E2 238 9.98 190 4.28 0.798 0.429
E3 250 10.05 200 3.78 0.800 0.376

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10
4. It was found that load-deflection curves had almost the
same profile for all specimens in Groups A, B, C and D.
The curve initially had a steep behavior until cracking load.
Once the first crack initiated, the load-deflection relation-
ship started to be more curved until reaching the ultimate
load of the slab.
5. In general, it has been found that the axial strains of the
flexural reinforcement were inversely proportional to the
distance from slab center. Also, the reinforcement passing
the failure cone boundaries had the greatest value of strain.
Moreover, it was noticed that the tension reinforcement did
not reach the yield point before the punching failure. The
maximum strain recorded was 1200le (yield strain is about
2000le).
6. It was obvious that increasing the steel fiber ratio increased
both the initial and tangent slopes of the load-deformation
curve. For example increasing the steel fiber ratio from 0%
(Specimen A1) to 1.5% (Specimen B3) increased the initial
stiffness of the slab by 70% (23 kN/mm for the Specimen
A1 and 33.3 kN/mm for the Specimen B3).
Phase II: eccentric loaded slabs
1. The purpose of testing these slabs under aforesaid state of
loading was to determine the interaction between shear
and moment capacities of the tested slabs and to under-
stand the influence of the steel fiber ratio on such behavior.
2. It was found that the higher the steel fiber ratio was the
higher the ultimate load carrying capacity of the specimens.
Increasing the steel fiber by 1.5% enhanced the ultimate
capacity of the specimens by 24%. The steel fiber ratio
had similar effect on the ultimate load carrying capacity
of the slabs in Phase I and Phase II. The ultimate load
was almost linear proportional with the steel fiber ratio in
both load cases.
3. The main mode of failure of all of the specimens was
punching shear failure that occurred suddenly in a brittle
manner around the column. In general it was noted that
increasing the steel fiber did not affect the general behavior
of the slab neither the failure mode. However it significantly
enhanced the ultimate capacity of the slab.
4. In general, it has been concluded that the axial strains of
the flexural reinforcement were inversely proportional to
the distance from slab center. Also, the reinforcement pass-
ing the failure cone boundaries had the greatest value of
strain. Moreover, it was noticed that the tension reinforce-
ment reached the yield point for the three tested specimens
with value about 6000le and this occurred only at the strain
gauges located exactly at the column face. Yet all other
strain gauges did not record any yielding strain. This indi-
cated that small portion of the steel reinforcement reached
the yield point.
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A.M. Abdel-Rahman et al.
The comparisons between the 3D finite element numerical
predictions and experimental results for all the specimens
showed that there was a very good agreement between the
3-D predicted load capacities and the experimental results
for all the test specimens. The average numerical-to experimen-
tal load ratio is 0.98 with a standard deviation of 0.14. This
indicates an excellent agreement.
For all the test specimens, the finite element analysis accu-
rately predicts the mode of failure observed in the experiments.
The finite element models are also able to capture exact crack
pattern observed experimentally for all tested specimens.
Conflict of interest
None declared.
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