MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR AND OPTIMUM DESIGN OF SFRC PLATES

Abstract

The effects of the aspect ratio and the volume fraction of steel fibers on the mechanical behavior of steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) plates are investigated by using EFNARC testing technique. Optimum solutions for the design parameters (L/d) and (Vf) were found while the brittleness of concrete is minimized. The experimental design is done by using Response Surface Method, which is a promising approach for optimizing SFRCs to meet several performance criteria such as minimum brittleness. According to the experimental results, significant improvement on toughness of concrete is observed by addition of steel fibers into concrete and the longer fibers are more effective in obtaining higher toughness results than the shorter ones.