PERFORMANCE OF STEEL FIBER REINFORCED CONCRETE – COMPARABILITY OF TESTS ACCORDING TO DAFSTB-GUIDELINE "STAHLFASERBETON" AND EN 14651

Abstract

For the determination of the performance of steel-fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC), the post-peak flexural strengths are used. In different national and European standards, different test-setups are defined, resulting in double efforts for testing for the manufacturers. In addition, the German national guideline "Stahlfaserbeton (DAfStb)" on SFRC is well established European-wide, but the test standard is specifically national, demanding a four-point-bending tests using unnotched beams. Contrarily, the European standard EN 14651 as well as the Model Code 2010 demand three-point bending tests using notched specimens. Applying the national guideline is obligatory in Germany for structural use of SFRC. Therefore, it is essential to standardize the performance evaluation of SFRC based on commonly applied international guidelines. In the following, an approach is presented especially dealing with the problem of random occurrence of cracks in the four-point-bending tests. It is shown, that neglecting the point of crack can systematically under-estimate the performance of SFRC especially at deformations.