Tension softening diagrams and evaluation of properties of steel fiber reinforced concrete

For a better understanding of the fracture behavior of concrete structures, knowledge of the post-cracking behavior of concrete material is essential. The tension softening diagram can describe the post-cracking behavior of c oncrete in tension. In this paper, the properties of various kinds of steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) were evaluated by means of the tension so ftening diagrams, after discussion of the applicability of the fictitious c rack model to SFRC. The fracture energy of conventional SFRC was independen t of the specimen size. For the evaluation of the properties of SFRC with d ifferent matrix strength, the shape of the tension softening diagram and th e fracture energy were superior to the flexural strength. The fracture ener gy of SFRC with high strength matrix was dependent on the tensile strength of the steel fiber. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.