Authors:
Sally Jalil; Ali A. Sultan;
Abstract:
This paper investigates the potential improvement in the flexural strength of reinforced concrete beams when
plain concrete is partially replaced by Hooked-Steel Fiber Concrete (HSFC). The main parameters considered
in the experimental work were the height (hf) of the HSFC layer and the volume fraction (Vf) of the steel fiber
used to create the HSFC layer. The volume fractions (Vf) of steel fiber used ranged from 0.5% to 1.5% with a
0.5% increment. For each steel fiber fraction, the height of the HSFC layer was varied as 20, 40, 60 and 100%
of the overall depth of the section. In addition to the control reinforced concrete beam (hf = 0.0h and Vf = 0.0%),
twelve hybrid beams were cast and tested using a fourth-point bending mode. Three distinct loading states were
considered in this study: cracking, yielding and ultimate loads. Additionally, the effect of the material’s
hybridization on ductility, cracking stiffness, toughness and cracking behavior is discussed. The test results
showed that partial replacement of plain concrete with HSFC of hf = 0.6h has approximately the same effect
on the load-carrying capacity of the tested beams as compared to the full replacement (hf = 1.0h). In addition,
the fiber content of 1.5% showed better results as compared to the lower contents of 0.5% and 1.0%..
Keywords:
RC beams, Flexural strength, SFRC, Steel fiber, Partial replacement, Fiber content,
Volume fraction