Received: 8 May 2017 Revised: 26 December 2017 Accepted: 3 January 2018

DOI: 10.1002/suco.201700089

TECHNICAL PAPER

Flexural behavior of ultra-high-performance fiber reinforced

concrete beams with low and high reinforcement ratios
Umut Hasgul | Kaan Turker | Tamer Birol | Altug Yavas

Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of

Engineering, Balikesir University, Balikesir,
Turkey
Correspondence
Tamer Birol, Department of Civil Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering, Balikesir University,
Cagis Campus, 10145 Balikesir, Turkey.
Email: tbirol@balikesir.edu.tr
Funding information
Scientific and Technological Research Council of
Turkey
In the study, the effects of using ultra-high-performance fiber reinforced concrete
(UHPFRC) on deflection and curvature ductilities, moment capacities, flexural
stiffness, and cracking behaviors of beams were experimentally investigated. Eight
singly reinforced beams with four tensile reinforcement ratios (0.009, 0.019,
0.028, and 0.043) were tested under four-point loading to create a pure moment
behavior in the mid region. The evaluations were made by comparing the
UHPFRC beams and non-fiber beams containing UHPFRC matrix without steel
fiber. Straight micro-steel fibers with volumetric ratio of 1.5% were used in the
UHPFRC matrix. The results of study indicate that the use of UHPFRC for beams
having especially high reinforcement ratios provides significant advantages in
terms of the considered parameters. Especially high compressive strength and
deformation capacity of the UHPFRC allow the use of high reinforcement ratios
in beams which results in more economical sizes as long as the beam deflections
ensure for both the serviceability and the ultimate limit states. In this study, how-
ever, the simplified numerical approach developed for the flexural design of fiber
reinforced concrete was applied to the UHPFRC beams, as well.

KEYWORDS

crack localization, flexural behavior, RC beam, steel fiber, ultra-high-

performance fiber reinforced concrete

1 | INTRODUCTION granular mixture with low water-to-binder ratio and by incor-

In the recent years, the demand of high-performance concretes
in the construction industry has increased with the demand for
structures such as high-rise buildings, large span bridges, and
special structures. With the developments in concrete technol-
ogy, it is possible to produce high-performance concretes.
Ultra-high-performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC)
is the new type of cementitious composite material which has
higher durability, ductility, and strength in comparison with
conventional concrete and fiber reinforced concrete.1–3 The
mechanical properties are improved by optimization of the
Discussion on this paper must be submitted within two months of the print
publication. The discussion will then be published in print, along with the
authors' closure, if any, approximately nine months after the print publication.
poration of steel fibers.2,4
The superior mechanical properties of the UHPFRC pro-
vide significant advantages in strength, stiffness, and ductility
of structural members, and these allow more economic, aes-
thetic, and long-life structures than the conventional concrete.
Due to high flexural and shear capacity, cracking control, and
high flexural stiffness provided by steel fibers, the UHPFRC
is particularly attractive for beams. Furthermore, the ductile
flexural behavior can be achieved even at high tensile rein-
forcement ratios because of its very high compressive strength
and deformation capacity.
Yoo and Yoon5 studied the flexural behavior of UHPFRC
beams with different steel fiber lengths for low reinforcement
ratios. The study indicates that the UHPFRC improved the
load-carrying capacity, post-cracking stiffness, and cracking

Structural Concrete. 2018;1–14. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/suco © 2018 fib. International Federation for Structural Concrete 1
2 HASGUL
behavior compared to non-fiber beam. However, the
UHPFRC beams showed lower ductility ratios since the defor-
mation of longitudinal reinforcement was localized at the
point, where a single crack was widened due to crack localiza-
tion. Thus, reinforcement rupture occurred at small deflection
compared to beams without fiber.5 Yang et al6 conducted a
series of flexural tests on the UHPFRC beams with reinforce-
ment ratios less than 0.02. They reported that the UHPFRC
beams exhibited lower ductility compared to non-fiber beams
and ductility improved by higher reinforcement ratios.6
Kahanji et al7 investigated the effects of different fiber con-
tents on the flexural behavior of UHPFRC beams with or
without reinforcement. The flexural moment capacity and
stiffness significantly improved as the volume fraction
increases. However, lower deflection values were obtained at
the maximum loads.7 Kamal et al8 also studied the flexural
behavior of UHPC beams in the framework of the fiber type,
longitudinal reinforcement ratio as well as existence or
absence of the web reinforcement. The results showed that the
use of fibers reduced crack widths. It was also noted that
higher ductility ratios were obtained as the reinforcement ratio
increases.8 Yoo et al.9 conducted experimental and numerical
investigations on the UHPFRC beams with different rein-
forcement ratios less than 0.02. The results indicated that high
post-cracking stiffness and load-carrying capacity can be
obtained and higher reinforcement ratio effectively controlled
the crack propagation to compressive zone.9
The steel fibers can improve the flexural moment capac-
ity, stiffness, and cracking behavior of the reinforced con-
crete beams, but the ductility is reduced due to the crack
localization. This phenomenon can occur in both normal-
and high-strength concretes that include the steel fiber and
conventional reinforcement. Some publications pointed out
to its negative effect on the flexural ductility for relatively
low reinforcement ratios.5,9–13 Moreover, the volumetric
ratio of fiber is another parameter affecting the beam ductil-
ity. In order to ensure sufficient ductility for the beams, the
volumetric ratio and fiber type must be compatible with ten-
sile reinforcement ratio. However, the studies on the flex-
ural behavior of UHPFRC beams have generally focused on
the low reinforcement ratios.5,6,8,9,13,14 Therefore, the stud-
ies including high reinforcement ratios are especially needed
to benefit from very high compressive strength and defor-
mation capacity of UHPFRC.
This study investigates the flexural behavior of
UHPFRC beams with low and high reinforcement ratios.
The use of UHPFRC in the flexure provides many advan-
tages to members in terms of high compressive strength and
TABLE 1 Mixture proportions of the ultra-high-performance fiber reinforced concrete matrix by weight ratio
C SF GGBFS Quartz sand (0–0.8 mm)
1.00 0.20 0.40 0.77
C = cement; GGBFS = ground granulated blast-furnace slag; SF = silics fume; SP = superplasticizer.
a
Volumetric ratio.
ET AL.
deformation capacity even at high reinforcement ratios. For
this purpose, the maximum tensile reinforcement ratio given
in the conventional design codes was exceeded. The results
were discussed by comparing the UHPFRC and non-fiber
beams which were made of UHPFRC matrix without fiber.
In addition, the simplified numerical approach developed in
the ACI 54415 for the flexural design of fiber reinforced
concrete was modified and applied to the UHPFRC test
beams in order to make a comparison of the results.
2 | E XP ER IME NT AL PROGRA M
In the framework of experimental program, eight beams
with four different reinforcement ratios representing low
and high tensile reinforcement ratios were casted and tested.
Four-point bending tests were carried out to obtain the pure
moment behavior at the mid region of beams. The load–
deflection behaviors, failure modes, deflection/curvature
ductilities, moment capacities, flexural stiffness, maximum
crack widths at the specific deflection values, and cracking
patterns were investigated on the test beams. The strains on
both concrete surface and longitudinal reinforcement were
also measured.
2.1 | Material properties and preparation
The UHPFRC mixture with 100 mm cube compressive
strength higher than 140 MPa at 28 days was aimed in this
study. The Portland cement CEM I 42.5 R (C), silica fume
(SF), and ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS)
were used as cementitious materials. Two-fractional quartz
sands (0–0.8 and 1–3 mm) were chosen as the aggregate.
The specific gravities of 0–0.8 and 1–3 mm quartz sands
were, respectively, 2.68 and 2.66 g/cm3. The water-to-
binder ratio was 0.18 and polycarboxylate ether-based
superplasticizer (SP) with the density of 1.08–1.14 kg/L
was used to ensure good workability. For the UHPFRC test
beams, the straight micro-steel fibers with a diameter of
0.16 and 13 mm long were used in the amount of 1.5% by
volume. The fibers had a density of 7,800 kg/m3 and a ten-
sile strength of 2,500 MPa. The detailed mixture propor-
tions are presented in Table 1.16
A standard pan mixer with 125-L capacity was used for
mixing as shown in Figure 1. The C, SF, GGBFS, and quartz
sands were mixed for about 3 min. Water and half of the
superplasticizer were added into the mixture and mixed for
another 5 min. Then the rest of SP was added and mixed for
additional 5 min. Finally, the fibers were dispersed carefully
Quartz sand (1–3 mm) SP Steel fiber
0.770 0.025 0.015a
HASGUL ET AL.
FIGURE 1 Casting procedure of the beams
into the mixture and mixed until homogenously distributed.
After casting, the beams were covered with a plastic sheet.
The beams were demolded after 48 hr and cured at room tem-
perature in the laboratory until the test day. For each beam,
six cube specimens (100 × 100 × 100 mm) were casted to
determine the compressive strength and cured with the same
conditions for the beams as indicated above.
2.2 | Details of test beams and instrumentation
In the study, eight UHPFRC beams with four different ten-
sile reinforcement ratios (0.009, 0.019, 0.028, and 0.043)
were tested. All beams are singly reinforced and contained
shear reinforcement except for the pure moment region. The
simply supported beams have a 150 × 250 mm cross
section and a length of 2,500 mm. The reinforcement details
for a typical test beam are given in Figure 2.
The beams were produced in two groups to study the
effects of steel fiber on the flexural behavior of UHPFRC.
FIGURE 2 Reinforcement details of the
beams
3
The first group beams were made of the UHPFRC matrix
without the fibers, while the second group beams were pro-
duced by the UHPFRC considering the steel fiber of
13 mm. The properties of tensile reinforcements and con-
crete compressive strengths are summarized in Table 2.
The notation B in specimen codes in Table 2 represents
beam, the notations NF and F indicate the non-fiber and
fiber, respectively. For the test beams, while the beams B1
have the lowest tensile reinforcement ratio of 0.009, the
beams B2 are almost maximum tensile reinforcement ratio
according to the Turkish Design Code.17 The beams B3 and
B4 represent the high reinforcement ratios which exceed the
maximum ratios in design codes. Therefore, the use of high
reinforcement ratios to take advantage of the high compres-
sive strength and deformation capacity of the UHPFRC
could be evaluated. Although the beams B3 and B4 have
higher reinforcement ratios (0.028 and 0.043), they
remained under-reinforced (balanced) ratio because their
compressive strengths were very high (Table 2).
4 HASGUL ET AL.

TABLE 2 The properties of the reinforcement and concrete compressive beams, the fibers prominently increased the initial stiffness
strengths and load-carrying capacity compared to the non-fiber beams
Beam Reinforcement ρ ρ/ρb fy (MPa) fu (MPa) fc0 (MPa) (Figure 4). A hardening behavior was observed for the
B1-NF 2ϕ14 0.009 0.092 469 590 137 UHPFRC beams so that the steel fibers increased the
B2-NF 2ϕ20 0.019 0.196 462 654 133 moment capacity after the yielding of longitudinal reinforce-
B3-NF 2ϕ24 0.028 0.311 491 606 135
ment due to their bridging capacity at the crack surfaces
B4-NF 4ϕ20 0.043 0.412 468 661 146
(Figure 4). The hardening behavior ended with debonding
of the fibers in the tensile region. The fiber debonding
B1-F 2ϕ14 0.009 0.077 453 567 157
occurs when the load carried by a single fiber overcomes
B2-F 2ϕ20 0.019 0.157 463 613 167
the bond strength of concrete matrix. At the maximum load,
B3-F 2ϕ24 0.028 0.241 456 593 157 the fibers at one specific section began to pull out. This
B4-F 4ϕ20 0.043 0.359 465 653 166 crack width significantly widened compared to other cracks
as shown in Figure 5. Due to high stress in this crack, the
ρ= reinforcement ratio; ρb = balanced reinforcement ratio; fy = yield strength
of reinforcement; ,fu = ultimate strength of reinforcement, fc0 = compressive strength degradations after this point were commenced. The
strength of concrete for cubes of 100 mm. debonding of fibers was visually observed. Although
strength degradations (softening behavior) were observed,
The beams were tested under the four-point loading until the ductile behavior was still achieved because of the high
the failure. The load was applied to the beams as two equal compressive strain capacity of the UHPFRC. While the con-
concentrated loads by a steel spreader beam. A load cell was crete crushing occurred over a wide area between the load-
placed between the jack and spreader beam. A potentiometric ing points in a brittle manner for the non-fiber beams, the
transducer was placed at the midspan of beams to measure the damage in the UHPFRC beams locally occurred and more
deflections. Also, two potentiometric transducers were placed ductile behavior can be ensured.
at the bottom and upper side of the beams over a central gauge Since the tensile reinforcement ratios of beams are
length of 300 mm for the determination of local experimental under-reinforced, the ductile flexural failure was observed
curvature. A hydraulic servo testing machine with capacity of in all UHPFRC and non-fiber beams, as expected. The non-
500 kN was used for the four-point bending tests. All tests were fiber beams failed by the concrete crushing at the compres-
conducted under deflection control with a midspan deflection sion zone (Figure 5). However, for the UHPFRC beams, the
rate of 0.2 mm/min. However, the rate of deflection for some deformation of longitudinal reinforcement was concentrated
beams was increased up to 0.5 mm/min after the maximum at the point where a single crack widened due to the crack
load in order to reduce the test time. The strain gauges were localization. Therefore, the reinforcement ruptured prior to
attached to the center of all longitudinal reinforcements and the concrete failure as shown in Figure 5.
three strain gauges were attached to the compression surface of
beam to measure the strains as shown in Figure 3. The cracking
pattern and crack widths were also recorded at each step. 2.3.1 | Deflection ductility
The deflection ductilities (μΔ) of the UHPFRC and non-
fiber beams were compared to each other to indicate the
2.3 | Experimental results and discussion effect of steel fibers. Therefore, the first yield load (Py),
The test beams were loaded until the failure and their load– load-carrying capacity corresponding to ultimate deflection
deflection behaviors were determined. For the UHPFRC (Pu), yield deflection (Δy), and ultimate deflection (Δu)

FIGURE 3 Details of test setup

HASGUL ET AL.
FIGURE 4 Experimental load–deflection relationships of the beams
values were obtained by using the load–deflection curves
of the beams. The approach based on the ideal elasto-
plastic behavior and the reduced stiffness was used for
determining the yield deflections (Figure 6).18 In this
approach, the yield deflection (Δy) is geometrically deter-
mined by means of a line joining the origin of the curve
with the point corresponding to 75% of the maximum load
(Pmax) (Figure 6).
FIGURE 5 Failure patterns of the beams
5
During the test program, all UHPFRC beam specimens
have maintained their stability well enough through the
fibers even at the deflections up to 80% of the load-carrying
capacity. After this degradation value, significant stability
problems could take place at the beams. On the other hand,
there are no deflection capacities after the maximum load
for the non-fiber beams due to the concrete crushing. Park18
proposed many procedures to obtain the ultimate point (Δu)
6 HASGUL ET AL.

of 1.83–8.12 as shown in Table 3 and Figure 7. The

beam’s deflection ductility for the lowest reinforcement
ratio of 0.009 decreased 2.58 times compared to the non-
fiber beam. When the higher reinforcement ratios were
used in the UHPFRC beams, the ductility values increased
between 2.18 and 2.98 times compared to the non-fiber
beams. The highest ductility in the UHPFRC beams was
obtained for the beam B3-F with the reinforcement ratio
of 0.028. It should be noted that higher reinforcement
ratios give better results in terms of the ductility of
UHPFRC beams. Consequently, the reinforcement ratios
FIGURE 6 Definitions of yield and ultimate deflections18
far above of the limits given in the conventional design
TABLE 3 Characteristic values of load–deflection behavior
codes can be effectively used to take advantage of the
high compressive strength and deformation capacity of the
Beam Δy (mm) Pu (kN) Δu (mm) Pmax (kN) μΔ=Δu/Δy Pu/Pmax
UHPFRC.
B1-NF 12.05 105.81 97.87 107.13 8.12 0.99
B2-NF 16.00 177.49 52.13 187.19 3.26 0.95

B3-NF 19.80 273.33 53.65 275.32 2.71 0.99 2.3.2 | Curvature ductility and effective flexural stiffness
B4-NF 19.10 309.91 35.01 318.88 1.83 0.97 The moment–curvature relationships were obtained during
B1-F 11.81 120.20 37.22 150.25 3.15 0.80
the test program by using the measurements at the pure
B2-F 15.91 205.16 113.26 256.45 7.12 0.80
moment region of beams as shown in Figure 8. The
moment–curvature curves of the B1-NF and B3-NF early
B3-F 14.83 255.78 119.80 319.73 8.08 0.80
terminated because the cracks over the beam surface dam-
B4-F 17.34 307.09 91.72 383.86 5.29 0.80
aged the curvature meter. Furthermore, as the major crack
in the beam B1-F developed out of the curvature meter, the
of experimental load–deflection behavior. These are based measurement could not be completed after the maximum
on a limiting compression strain, maximum load, fracture/ load (Figure 8).
buckling on the member as well as the load-reduction The effects of UHPFRC on the curvature ductility (μϕ)
method of 20% after the maximum load.18 The load reduc- and the flexural stiffness (EIeff) of beams were determined
tion of 20%, which is commonly used to obtain the ultimate by means of the experimental moment–curvature curves.
deflection capacity,19–25 was assumed in the study. The Therefore, the yield moment (My), moment corresponding
deflection ductilities of beams and other characteristic to the ultimate curvature (Mu), yield curvature (ϕy), and ulti-
values are given in Table 3 and Figure 7. In addition, the mate curvature (ϕu) values were determined as shown in
ductilities of UHPFRC beams were proportioned to those of Figure 9. Same procedure considered in the deflection duc-
the non-fiber beams to determine the contribution of steel tility calculations was used for determining these character-
fibers as shown in Figure 7. istic values.18
For the non-fiber beams, the deflection ductility The ratio of the maximum moment (Mmax) to the yield
decreased with increasing tensile reinforcement ratio, as curvature (ϕy), based on the idealized elasto-plastic response,
expected. The ductility ratios were obtained in the range was accepted as the effective flexural stiffness (EIeff)

FIGURE 7 Deflection ductilities of the beams and effect of steel fiber on deflection ductility
HASGUL ET AL.
FIGURE 8 Experimental moment–curvature relationships of the beams
(Figure 9). The corresponding characteristic values are given
in Table 4.
The curvature ductilities were determined as 2.58 and
5.59 for the non-fiber beams with reinforcement ratios of
0.019 and 0.043, respectively. However, the curvature duc-
tilities showed a variation between 13.18 and 30.95 for the
UHPFRC beams. The maximum curvature ductility was
obtained for the beam having reinforcement ratio of 0.028
as in the deflection ductility. In the UHPFRC beams, very
high curvature ductility values were obtained due to the
crack localization behavior. It can be noted that the mini-
mum ductility is commonly considered 2 or 3 in the design
of conventional under-reinforced concrete, as indicated by
Park and Ruitong,26 Rashid and Mansur,27 Shin etal.21 In
this study, this ductility level was taken as the baseline,
FIGURE 9 Definitions of effective stiffness, yield, and ultimate
curvatures
7
such as higher or lower, in order to evaluate the ductility
performances of test beams.26,27 Considering these values
as the minimum curvature ductility, very high ductility was
obtained even for the UHPFRC beam with the highest rein-
forcement ratio.
The effective flexural stiffnesses of beams are given in
Figure 10. Proportioning the stiffnesses of the UHPFRC
beams to those of the non-fiber beam, an increase by
16–37% was observed in the effective flexural stiffness of
beams due to the fiber contribution (Figure 10).
2.3.3 | Moment capacity
Although the amount of tensile reinforcement in the test
beams are the same, the yield and tensile strength of rein-
forcements showed differences. It is clear that these differ-
ences significantly affect the moment capacity of beams.
Therefore, a numerical study for only the non-fiber beams
was conducted to eliminate the differences in strength. For
this purpose, the flexural moment capacities of the current
non-fiber beams were determined using well-known proce-
dure in the ACI 31828 code and the results were compared
to the experimental capacities (Mexp) of the non-fiber beams
for each reinforcement ratio (Table 5). As shown in
Table 5, the capacities obtained by the numerical calculation
(Mnum) are in a good relation with the experimental results
(max. error: 4%). In the view of such information, non-fiber
beams’ capacities were calculated again by using same rein-
forcement yield strength of the UHPFRC beams. Hence, the
moment capacities of the UHPFRC and non-fiber beams
8 HASGUL ET AL.

TABLE 4 Characteristic values for moment–curvature behavior

Beam ϕy (1/m) Mu (kN m) ϕu (1/m) Mmax (kN m) μφ=ϕu/ϕy EIeff = Mmax/ϕy (kN m2)
a a a
B1-NF 0.0144 37.50 2,604
B2-NF 0.0209 63.69 0.1168 65.52 5.59 3,135
a a a
B3-NF 0.0254 96.36 3,794
B4-NF 0.0285 109.84 0.0734 111.61 2.58 3,916
a a a
B1-F 0.0174 52.59 3,022
B2-F 0.0225 71.13 0.5667 89.76 25.19 3,989

B3-F 0.0215 89.94 0.6654 111.91 30.95 5,205

B4-F 0.0268 107.48 0.3532 134.35 13.18 5,013

a
Measurement could not be completed.

FIGURE 10 Flexural stiffness of the beams and effect of steel fiber on stiffness

have become comparable for each reinforcement ratio to see
only contribution of the steel fibers.
The moment capacities and the effect of steel fiber on
the capacities are given in Figure 11. Through the contribu-
tion of fibers in the tensile region, the increase of 23–50%
in the moment capacities was obtained compared to the
non-fiber beams. The greatest increase in the capacity was
obtained for the beam B1 having the lowest reinforcement
ratio. It can be also noted that as the amount of tensile rein-
forcement increases, the fiber contribution on the capacity
showed a decreasing trend as shown in Figure 11.
2.3.4 | Cracking behavior
The cracking patterns and the crack widths of the UHPFRC
beams and non-fiber beams were compared to show the
effect of fibers on the cracking behavior. The investigations
were performed at the deflection values of L/250 and L/70,
here the L refers to the beam span. While the value L/250
corresponds to the serviceability limit state (SLS) in elastic
region, the value L/70 represents the ultimate limit state
(ULS) in plastic region where significant plastic deforma-
tions occur in beams. The cracking patterns and the crack
widths obtained for both limit states are given in Figures 12
and 13, respectively.
The number of cracks in the UHPFRC beams decreased,
in general, compared to the non-fiber beams. While the
maximum crack widths at the SLS decreased by 33–55%
with the fiber usage, the widths at the ULS showed an
increasing tendency changing in the range of 2.71–3.64
times due to the crack localization effect. However, the
deformation of tension reinforcement was localized at the
point where a single crack was widened due to crack locali-
zation and the reinforcement rupture was observed after this
limit state.
2.3.5 | Concrete and reinforcement strain response

TABLE 5 Comparison of experimental and numerical flexural capacities The strain responses of concrete and tensile reinforcements
of the non-fiber beams in the UHPFRC beams are important for the flexural design
Beam B1-NF B2-NF B3-NF B4-NF
of members. Therefore, the concrete and reinforcement
Mexp (kN m) 37.50 65.52 96.36 111.61
strains were measured at the mid region of beams, where
Mnum (kN m) 36.18 67.24 93.58 109.75
the major strains occurred. As shown in Figure 3, the strains
were measured on the outermost concrete compression
Mnum/Mexp 0.96 1.03 0.97 0.98
fibers (three pcs) and on each tensile reinforcement.
HASGUL ET AL. 9

FIGURE 11 Flexural capacities of the beams and effect of steel fiber on the capacities

The maximum concrete strains obtained for each beam
are given in Figure 14. The strain values corresponding to
the maximum loads (Pmax) were marked on the load–strain
curves. While the maximum concrete strains were obtained
between 0.0022 and 0.0039 at the maximum loads for the
non-fiber beams, lower strains were measured (range of
0.0015–0.0035) in the UHPFRC beams. However, the con-
crete strains kept increasing subsequent to the maximum
load and reached the range of 0.0039–0.0050 in the
UHPFRC beams. This indicates that the first load decrease
in the UHFRC beams is due to the debonding of fibers in
the tensile region instead of the concrete crushing.
The strain gauge measurements in the reinforcements
were used for the determination of yield points. High strain
values could not exactly be measured by the strain gauges
since the major cracks occurred outside of the gauge length.
Therefore, the average reinforcement strains at the maxi-
mum load were obtained from the curvature meter at the
mid region of beams (Figure 15). As shown in Figure 15,
the yield strain and the strain corresponding to the maxi-
mum load were marked on the curves. When the maximum
load was reached, the maximum reinforcement strains were
obtained between 0.010 and 0.020 for the non-fiber beams
and between 0.0025 and 0.0152 for the UHPFRC beams
(Figure 15). The strain responses of the reinforcements in
the UHPFRC and the non-fiber beams were not signifi-
cantly different up to the maximum load. After this point,
the reinforcement strains in the UHPFRC beams excessively
increased compared to the non-fiber beams due to the crack
localization.

FIGURE 12 Cracking patterns, crack widths and effect of steel fiber on crack widths (L/250)
10 HASGUL ET AL.

FIGURE 13 Cracking patterns, crack widths, and effect of steel fiber on crack widths (L/70)

3 | NU M E R IC A L C AL C U L AT IO N O F as shown in Figure 16. Based on this approach, the capacity

FL EX UR AL MOMEN T C APA CITY can be directly calculated by using Equations (1), (2),
and (3).
There is no well-accepted design method for the design of
 
a h e a
reinforced concrete members containing the UHPFRC. Mn = AS fy d − + σ t bðh −eÞ + − , ð1Þ
Although some design recommendations are reported at the 2 2 2 2
JSCE,29 AFGC,30 and at Fehling et al,31 the methods in
these documents require additional tests which are difficult  
to apply and not practical for design purpose. Therefore, the e = εsðFibersÞ + 0:003 c=0:003, ð2Þ
studies regarding the design oriented-simplified methods
were developed. Procedure in the ACI 544,15, which was

developed by Henager and Doherty32 for predicting the σ t = 0:00772 l=df ρf Fbe ðMPaÞ: ð3Þ
nominal moment capacity of singly reinforced concrete
beams with steel fibers, is commonly used in many
studies.13,14,33–35 In the ACI 544 model,15 the equivalent Here, As denotes the cross-sectional area of reinforce-
stress blocks for the compressive and tensile regions of the ment, fy is yield strength of reinforcement; d effective depth,
concrete are used to calculate the beam moment capacities, h cross-sectional height, b cross-sectional width, a depth of

FIGURE 14 Compressive strains in concrete for the beams

HASGUL ET AL.
FIGURE 15 Tensile strains in reinforcements for the beams
equivalent compressive stress block, c neutral axis depth,
e distance between the outermost concrete compression
fiber and the upper limit of tensile strength block, σ t the ten-
sile strength of fibrous concrete, εs(Fibers) strain in fibers,
l fiber length, df fiber diameter, ρf volumetric fiber ratio,
and Fbe bond efficiency of fiber.
On the other hand, Equation (3) for the tensile strength
(σ t) of fiber reinforced concrete based on a bond strength
value of 2.3 MPa. The research by others indicated that the
bond between fiber and concrete should be higher than those
of the normal-strength concrete because of the high-density
matrix in the high-strength concretes such as UHPFRC. An
average value of 4.15 MPa for the fiber bond strength was
also recommended by Al-Ta’an and Al-Feel.36 Khalil and
Tayfur14 used Equation (4) to adopt to the ACI 544 model
with some modifications. For this reason, Equation (4) pro-
posed in Ahmed and Pama37 was used to represent better the
fiber characteristics of the UHPFRC in the study. The tensile
strength of UHPFRC (σ t) can be calculated by means of the
fiber length (lf), fiber diameter (df), volumetric fiber ratio (ρf),
bond strength (τf), and some effectiveness factors.
 ples and are given in Table 6 together with the experimen-
σ t = 2ηo ηb ηl ρf τf lf =df ðMPaÞ: ð4Þ
Here, η0, ηb, ηl refer to the fiber orientation, shape, and
length, respectively. These values were determined depend-
ing on the fiber characteristics regardless of whether the
concrete is normal strength or high strength. In the numeri-
cal calculations, these parameters were assumed as 0.41,
1.2, and 0.8 respectively.38,39
FIGURE 16 Stress and strain distribution
for singly reinforced concrete beams with
steel fibers15
11
The bond strength (τf) can be taken as between 1.0 and
9.8 depending on the concrete compressive strength, fiber
characteristics, and material properties.40 In Khalil and
Tayfur,14 the bond strength was calculated as 7.7 MPa, by
using Equation (5),41 for the UHPFRC beams with com-
pressive strength of 136 MPa and very compatible results
were obtained with their experimental results. Because of
that, the bond strength for the UHPFRC beams was calcu-
lated by Equation (5). Here, fc0 denotes the compressive
strength of the fiber reinforced concrete.
qffiffiffiffiffi
0
τf = 0:66 fc : ð5Þ
The maximum strain value in the outermost compres-
sion fiber of concrete (εc) was basically assumed as 0.003
in the ACI 544.15 So, the concrete strain was assumed
0.003 in the numerical analyses so as to be compatible with
the average experimental strains at the maximum load as
shown in Figure 14.
The numerical capacities (Mnum) of the UHPFRC
beams were calculated in the framework of above princi-
tal results (Mexp). It was noted that the numerical and
experimental capacity ratios (Mnum/Mexp) vary between
0.93 and 1.06 and the standard deviation was determined
as 6.1%. It should be also noted that the simplified
approach based on the ACI 544 gives very good results
for numerically determining the flexural moment capacities
of UHPFRC beams.
12
TABLE 6 Comparison of experimental and numerical moment capacities
of the ultra-high-performance fiber reinforced concrete beams
e c a τf σt Mnum Mexp
Beam (mm) (mm) (mm) (MPa) (MPa) (kN m) (kN m)
B1-F 34.94 34.59 22.48 7.17 6.16 52.59 55.62
B2-F 47.20 46.71 30.36 7.38 6.34 85.32 89.78
B3-F 60.70 60.08 39.05 7.17 6.16 105.65 111.91
B4-F 72.36 71.60 46.54 7.38 6.34 124.53 134.35
4 | CON CLU SION S
The flexural behavior of UHPFRC beams with low and
high reinforcement ratios were experimentally investigated
in the study. For this purpose, the deflection and curvature
ductilities, moment capacities, flexural stiffnesses, and
cracking behaviors of the test beams were discussed. The
evaluations were made by comparing the UHPFRC and
non-fiber beams which were made of UHPFRC matrix
without fiber. The straight micro-steel fibers with the volu-
metric ratio of 1.5% were used in the UHPFRC. Four differ-
ent tensile reinforcement ratios varying between 0.009 and
0.043 were considered. The four-point bending tests were
conducted to obtain the pure moment behavior at the mid
region of beams. In addition, the simplified numerical
approach developed for the flexural design of fiber rein-
forced concrete in the ACI 544 was modified and applied to
the UHPFRC test beams in order to compare the test
results.
• The flexural ductility of UHPFRC beams increase as the
amount of tensile reinforcement increases in contrast
with the non-fiber beams. While the deflection ductil-
ities show an increase of 2.18–2.98 times, the curvature
ductilities get higher up to 4.51–5.11 times with the use
of steel fiber for high reinforcement ratios (0.019, 0.028,
and 0.043). For the lowest reinforcement ratio of 0.009,
it can be noted that the ductility significantly decreases
with the fiber usage because of the crack localization
which can cause the rupture of reinforcement at rela-
tively small deflections. It can be said that sufficient
flexural ductility could be provided for all UHPFRC
beams considering different reinforcement ratios. These
results indicate that high reinforcement ratios can be
effectively used to take advantage of the high compres-
sive strength and deformation capacity of UHPFRC.
• It was determined that the use of UHPFRC provides the
increases between 23 and 50% for the moment capaci-
ties compared to the non-fiber condition. The increases
in the capacity changed inversely proportional with the
amount of reinforcement.
• The effective flexural stiffness increased by 27% on
average with the fiber usage, but no specific trend could
be found between the change of flexural stiffness and
the amount of reinforcement.
HASGUL ET AL.
• The test results also showed that the use of UHPFRC
generally reduces the number of cracks. However, the
Mnum/ cracking patterns were affected differently by the fibers
Mexp
at the serviceability and ultimate limit states (SLS and
1.06
ULS). The maximum crack widths in the UHPFRC
0.95
beams decreased by 41% on average at the SLS com-
0.94 pared to the non-fiber beams. On the other hand, at the
0.93 ULS, the maximum crack widths increased 3.2 times on
average because of the crack localization. While the
fiber usage significantly provides a reduction on the
cracking behavior for the SLS, the crack localization
has become an importance on the UHPFRC beams’
behavior at the ULS.
• The use of UHPFRC can change the failure mode of
beams because of its high deformation capacity under
compression as well as its significant contributions on
cracking behavior. While the non-fiber beams failed by
the concrete crushing at the compression zone, the
deformation of longitudinal reinforcement was concen-
trated at the point where a single crack was widened.
Therefore, the reinforcement ruptured prior to the con-
crete failure. This behavior does not change even at the
highest reinforcement ratio.
• The equivalent stress block approach in the ACI
544, which includes the tensile strength of the fibrous
concrete, was used with some modifications for the
moment capacities of UHPFRC beams. The calculated
capacities show good agreement with the experimental
results so that the standard deviation was determined
as 6.1%.
It can be concluded by the results of study that the use
of UHPFRC for especially high reinforcement ratios pro-
vides significant advantages in ductility, flexural moment
capacity, stiffness, and cracking control in the elastic region.
High compressive strength and deformation capacity of the
UHPFRC offer the use of higher reinforcement ratios in
beams. It should be also noted that these advantages may
considerably vary depending on the fiber content (type and
amount). Therefore, there is a need to similar studies for dif-
ferent fiber contents and reinforcement ratios. These studies
will contribute to the development of design methods and
widespread use of the UHPFRC.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was supported by the Scientific and Technologi-
cal Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK, Project code:
113M432). The authors gratefully acknowledge TUBITAK.
In addition, the authors thank to Mr Mehmet Yerlikaya from
BEKSA-DRAMIX and Mr Emrah Karatas from BASF.
OR CID
Tamer Birol http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2428-6202
HASGUL ET AL. 13

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14 HASGUL ET AL.

Kaan Turker, Assistant Professor, Altug Yavas, Assistant Professor,

Department of Civil Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering,
Balikesir University, Balikesir, Balikesir University, Balikesir,
Turkey Turkey
kturker@balikesir.edu.tr ayavas@balikesir.edu.tr

Tamer Birol, PhD,

Department of Civil Engineering,
Balikesir University, Balikesir,
How to cite this article: Hasgul U, Turker K,
Turkey
Birol T, Yavas A. Flexural behavior of ultra-high-
tbirol@balikesir.edu.tr
performance fiber reinforced concrete beams with
low and high reinforcement ratios. Structural Con-
crete. 2018;1–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/suco.
201700089