Modeling of concrete containing steel fibers: toughness and mechanical properties

In this study, effect of steel fibers on toughness and some mechanical properties of concrete were investigated. Hooked-end steel fibers were used in concrete samples with three volume fractions (vf) of 0.5%, 0.75% and 1% and for two aspect ratios (l/d) of 45 and 65. Compressive and flexural tensile strength and modulus of elasticity of concrete were determined for cylindrical, cubic and prismatic samples at the age of 7 and 28 days. The stress-strain curves of standard cylindrical specimens were studied to determine the effect of steel fibers on toughness of steel-fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC). In addition, the relationship between compressive strength and the flexural tensile strength of SFRC were reported. Finally, a simple model was proposed to generate the stress-strain curves for SFRC based on strains corresponding to the peak compressive strength and 60% of peak compressive stress. The proposed model was shown to provide results in good correlation with the experimental results.