MICROMECHANICAL TENSILE BEHAVIOR OF SLURRY INFILTRATED CONTINUOUS-FIBER-MAT REINFORCED-CONCRETE (SIMCON)

This paper describes the micromechanical tensile behavior of a new Hig h-Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete (HPFRC) called Slurry lnfiltra ted Mar Concrete (SIMCON). SIMCON is made by first placing continuous Stainless steel fiber-mats into the form and then infiltrating the den se fiber network with a cement-based slurry. Due to lire very high fib er aspect ratio, SIMCON exhibits a high increase in strength, roughnes s, and crack control, reaching tensile strengths of lip to 17 MPa at s trains of up to 1.5 percent with only 5.29 percent fiber volume fracti on. Furthermore, since fiber-mats are easy to handle, as compared to s hort discontinuous fibers SIMCON has no major construction-related sho rtcomings. It is therefore well-suited for repair retrofit, and new co nstruction of earthquake resistant buildings, bridges, and other struc tures that require high strength and ductility. However; to achieve op timal performance it is necessary to properly ''engineer'' the composi te. In other words, a full understanding of the effect of different di fferent micromechanical parameters (e.g., fracture surface energy, spe cific work of the interfacial fracture, etc.) on the overall composit e behavior is important for reaching anticipated performance. Once thi s relationship has been determined, desired composite behavior call be ''engineered'' by varying the amount and type of its constituents. Th e relationship between basic micromechanical parameters and tensile be havior of SIMCON is established in this paper using an energy approach . Theoretically derived values are compared to the experimentally obta ined data.