Effect of Steel Fibers on Flexural Cracking of Fiber Reinforced Concrete Beams with Lap-Spliced Bars

In this research, the effect of steel fibers on flexural cracking of fiber reinforced concrete beams with lap-spliced bars under static and loading/unloading cycles was investigated. Ten specimens of laboratory beam with the section width of 150mm, height of 200mm and length of 2300mm and with different splice lengths of tension rebars and different percentages of steel fibers were manufactured and tested. Four specimens were subjected to static loads and six specimens were subjected to loading/unloading cycles. Among the specimens, one was selected as the control specimen without having lap-spliced bars and steel fibers. Other 9 specimens were made using steel fibers with different volumetric percentages of 0, 1 and 2. The specimens were conducted under four-point bending tests. It was shown that the flexural crack width in beams decreases with increasing the volume percentage of steel fiber, significantly. Steel fibers in specimens subjected to static loading and loading/unloading cycles increased the energy dissipation.