David DUPONT, Lucie VANDEWALLE,

THE CRACKING BEHAVIOUR OF SFRC BEAMS CONTAINING LONGITUDINAL REINFORCEMENT,

Editor(s): A.M. BRANDT, V.C. LI, I.H. MARSHALL,
Brittle Matrix Composites 7,
Woodhead Publishing,
2003,
Pages 253-262,
ISBN 9781855737693,
https://doi.org/10.1533/9780857093103.253.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9781855737693500307)
Abstract: ABSTRACT
Durability of concrete is in a great extent determined by the crack widths that are
formed in the structure and that allow water to infiltrate in the concrete so that
corrosion of the reinforcement bars can occur. The analysis of the cracking
behaviour in concrete has always been a topic of interest for investigation by many
scientists. In general it is assumed that the durability of the structure is
assured when the crack widths are limited to 0.3 mm. One of the often-used
approaches to limit the crack widths is the use of steel fibre reinforced concrete
(SFRC). Steel fibre concrete is generally known to reduce crack widths because of
its post-cracking tensile strength. At the Department of Civil Engineering of the
Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, a test program has been executed on 19
full-scale SFRC beams containing longitudinal reinforcement. All beams have been
tested in four-point bending. The tests were performed in different load steps
until failure of the beam. The load steps were chosen so that the beams failed
after 10 to 15 steps. At each load step the crack widths and spacing were measured.
The results of the test program illustrate the strong beneficial effect of steel
fibres on the crack widths as well as on the crack spacing. The addition of fibres
to the concrete can lead to a reduction of the crack width of up to 40%. The crack
widths of the beams of the test program have been calculated by means of the new
Rilem guideline as well as with a newly developed physical cracking model for
reinforced SFRC beams. The physical model takes into account the bond between the
reinforcement bars and the SFRC matrix as well as the influence of the steel fibres
on the stress in the reinforcement bars. A comparison of the calculated results and
the experimental results shows that there is a relatively good correlation between
the two. The input parameters for the calculation model are the concrete
compressive strength, the dimensions of the beam, the position and diameter of the
reinforcement bars, the tensile strength and the post-cracking tensile strength of
the SFRC material and the bond stress-slip relation. The new calculation model
provides a very good understanding of the crack formation process. It also creates
the possibility to determine for example the necessary post-cracking strength of
the SFRC, given that the crack width of the beam must be lower than a certain
value. Furthermore, also the influence of the bond stress-slip relation can be
taken into account. This creates the possibility to use the crack model for other
types of reinforcement than steel rebars (e.g. GFRP rebars).