EXPERIMENTAL BEHAVIOR OF FIBER CONCRETE SLABS ON SOIL

The cracking control of plain concrete slabs on soil foundation requir es the execution of joints with mechanisms of load transfer between ad jacent panels. These joints increase the construction costs and, often , are the source of local damage and loss of service performance. Slab s reinforced with steel wire mesh have been used in order to increase the load-carrying capacity and to enhance the cracking control. Howeve r, the use of this conventional reinforcement increases the costs, mai nly due to labour time spent on the arrangement and positioning of the reinforcement. Fibre-reinforced concrete is a recent material well fi tted for applications in industrial floors on soil foundation. The cos t of fibres is compensated by a faster construction process and a redu ction in the number of expansion joints. The fatigue, impact and flexu ral strength are significantly improved when steel fibres are added to the concrete mix. The work developed aims to contribute to the on goi ng research effort to clarify the behaviour of fibre-reinforced concre te slabs on soil foundation. For this purpose, an experimental and num erical investigation were carried out. The present article deals basic ally with the experimental work developed, describing the tests perfor med and discussing the main results obtained. (C) 1998 John Wiley & So ns, Ltd.