Comparison of flexural behavior and cracking pattern of RC and SFRC beams reinforced with minimum and maximum longitudinal tensile bars

The flexural performance of steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) is significantly influenced by fiber properties such as fiber quality, shape, aspect ratio, orientation, and distribution. Digital image processing is an optical and non-contact measurement method that can determine the extent of sample size and deformation under any loading conditions. In this paper, eight reinforced concrete beams with and without steel fibers were selected, including four separate groups containing different volumetric percentages of steel fibers, designed and loaded with four-point bending test in accordance with the rules of ACI 318-19 design regulations. The first group consisted of two ordinary concrete beams as reference samples and six other concrete beams reinforced with steel fiber with a percentage of 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5%. Different longitudinal reinforcements (one state of minimum reinforcement and one state of maximum reinforcement in accordance with the provisions of the design regulations) were examined and analyzed in these specimens. Strain gauges were installed on the longitudinal bars to measure the strain during the loading process. Experimental results showed that the loads, flexural strength, ductility, and energy absorption of fiber-reinforced concrete beams were improved compared to similar conventional concrete beams. The highest ductility ratio among the samples made with tensile reinforcement was observed in the beam with a minimum longitudinal bar and 1.0% of fibers. The ductility of this sample was 30% higher than the similar non-fibrous sample with minimum longitudinal tensile reinforcement. The results showed that the ratio of ductility of the sample with maximum tensile reinforcement was decreased up to 46% compared to the companion beam with minimum tensile reinforcement. Significant increases in flexural strength, equal to 16, 23, and 29%, respectively, were observed in beams with minimum tensile reinforcement and containing steel fibers 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5%.