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Twelve tests were conducted on reinforced concrete beams with beams with low values of a/d, and to the diagonal-tension
three steel fiber-volume fractions (0, 0.5, and 0.75%), three shear failure mode (beam action) in beams with higher values of
span-depth ratios (2, 3, and 4), and two concrete compressive a/d. Li, Ward, and Hamza9 also report that, as has been ob-
strengths (31 and 65 MPa). The results demonstrated that the nom- served in conventional beams, the average shear stress at
inal stress at shear cracking and the ultimate shear strength
failure decreases with increasing beam depth.
increased with increasing fiber volume, decreasing shear span-
depth ratio, and increasing concrete compressive strength. As the fiber The increase in shear strength attributable to the fibers
content increased, the failure mode changed from shear to flexure. depends not only on the amount of fibers, usually expressed as
The results of 139 tests of fiber-reinforced concrete beams with- the fiber volume fraction Vf , but also on the aspect ratio6,7,9,12,13
out stirrups were used to evaluate existing and proposed empirical and anchorage conditions for the steel fibers.9,13,21 For example,
equations for estimating shear strength. The test population from the point of view of workability, it may be convenient to
included beams with a wide range of beam properties, but most of use stocky and smooth fibers, but after the concrete cracks, such
the beams were small. The evaluation indicated that the equations fibers will resist tension less well than elongated fibers with end
developed by Narayanan and Darwish and the equations proposed deformations (hooked or crimped).
herein provided the most accurate estimates of shear strength and
the onset of shear cracking. For the proposed procedure, the ratio Investigators have also developed empirical expressions
of the measured strength to the calculated strength had a mean of for calculating shear strength. For example, Sharma;16
1.00 and a coefficient of variation of 15%. Narayanan and Darwish;13 Ashour, Hasanain, and Wafa;3
and Imam et al.25 have proposed equations for predicting the
Keywords: beam; cracking; shear strength. ultimate average shear stress u. Although the onset of shear
cracking is difficult to establish reliably, Narayanan and
INTRODUCTION Darwish13 also proposed a procedure for estimating the
The addition of steel fibers to a reinforced concrete beam average shear stress at the onset of shear cracking cr .
is known to increase its shear strength and, if sufficient fibers Despite this research activity, the existing design expres-
are added, a brittle shear failure can be suppressed in favor sions have not been evaluated with a large amount of test
of more ductile behavior.1,2 The increased shear strength and results and, in some cases, the data used to calibrate models of
ductility of fiber-reinforced beams stems from the post- shear strength included tests of beams that failed in flexure
cracking tensile strength of fiber-reinforced concrete. This rather than in shear. Proposed and existing design procedures
residual strength also tends to reduce crack sizes and for estimating shear strength need to be evaluated using a large
spacings. The use of steel fibers is particularly attractive for collection of test results for beams that failed in shear.
high-strength concrete, which can be relatively brittle without
fibers, or if conventional stirrups can be eliminated, which RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
reduces reinforcement congestion. Previous studies have documented many tests of fiber-
The literature describes numerous studies of rectangular, reinforced concrete beams without stirrups that failed in
fiber-reinforced beams without stirrups,2-21 of which 163-18 shear. The results of new tests, combined with the results
were reviewed by Adebar et al.2 Batson, Jenkins, and Spat- of previous tests, provide the opportunity to evaluate the
ney performed the first large experimental study of such accuracy of existing and proposed design procedures. Such an
beams,4 which included 42 tests of fiber-reinforced beams with- evaluation is needed before building codes22 will recognize
out stirrups that failed in shear. Subsequent investigations of the contribution of steel fibers to the shear strength of reinforced
normal-strength concrete6,7,9-17 (primarily in the 1980s) and concrete beams.
high-strength concrete3,5,19,21 (primarily in the 1990s) con-
firmed the effectiveness of adding steel fibers and identified
TEST PROGRAM
key parameters that affect shear strength. The increase in
Twelve reinforced concrete beams were tested to failure to
shear strength can vary drastically depending on the beam
geometry and material properties. For example, in tests reported evaluate the influence of fiber-volume fraction a/d and
by Narayanan and Darwish,13 the increase in shear strength concrete compressive strength on beam strength and ductility
attributable to steel fibers varied from 13 to 170%. (Table 1). The first 9 beams, denoted by the letters FHB (fiber-
reinforced, higher-strength concrete beams) were constructed
As with conventional reinforced concrete beams,22-24 the
ultimate shear strength decreases with increasing shear span-
depth ratio a/d;3,4,5,9-13,21 increases with increasing flexur- ACI Structural Journal, V. 99, No. 4, July-August 2002.
al reinforcement ratio ;3,5,13 and increases with increasing MS No. 01-402 received November 27, 2001, and reviewed under Institute publica-
tion policies. Copyright 2002, American Concrete Institute. All rights reserved,
concrete compressive strength fc .13,21 These effects are including the making of copies unless permission is obtained from the copyright pro-
prietors. Pertinent discussion will be published in the May-June 2003 ACI Structural
attributable to the development of arch and dowel action in Journal if received by January 1, 2003.
Jubum Kim is a graduate research assistant in the department of civil and environ- Material properties
mental engineering at the University of Washington.
Table 2 provides the mixture designs and slumps for the
four mixtures. The water-cement ratio (w/c) was 0.33 for the
with concrete having a compressive strength near 65 MPa.
These higher-strength beams included all combinations of
three steel-fiber volume fractions (Vf = 0, 0.5, and 0.75%)
and three a/ds (a/d = 2, 3, and 4). The last three beams (Test
Series FNB2), which had an average compressive strength
of 31 MPa, were included to evaluate the effect of concrete
compressive strength on shear strength. For these three
beams, the steel fiber-volume fraction was kept constant at
0.5%, while a/d varied from 2 to 4.
Figure 1 shows the details of the test beams. All of the
beams had nominally identical cross-sectional dimensions
(125 x 250 mm), effective depths (212 mm), and flexural
reinforcement (two D16 bars). These dimensions correspond
to a flexural reinforcement ratio of 1.5%. The longitudinal
bars were hooked upwards behind the supports and enclosed
by three D10 stirrups at each end. This detail precluded the
possibility of anchorage failure, which can be important in
practice. No stirrups were included within the shear span.
To prevent the beam from developing significant axial
forces, which could create artificial strut action, the beams
were supported by a roller on one end and a hinge at the other
as shown in Fig. 1. At both of these locations, the contact area
between the concrete and the supports measured 125 mm (the
width of the beam) x 150 mm. Two equal loads were applied to Fig. 1Details of test beams.
Fig. 3Typical crack patterns (a/d = 2). Fig. 4Influence of a/d on shear resistance.
0.25
u = kf t ( d a ) (MPa) (1) = fcuf ( 20 F ) + 0.7 + 1.0 F (MPa) (3)
Fig. 6Evaluation of Sharmas Eq. (1). Fig. 7Evaluation of Narayanan and Darwishs Eq. (2).
where exp 2
u = A ef spfc ---
= size effect factor exp 1 d exp 3
+ B b (MPa) (8)
a
1 + ( 5.08 d a )
= -------------------------------------
-; where
1 + d ( 25d a ) b = 0.41F, as defined in Eq. (2).
In this equation, the value of e is equal to 1.0 for a/d >
= reinforcement factor (1 + 4F); a/d transition, and it is equal to (a/d transitiond/a) for a/d
F = fiber factor (Lf /Df ) Vf df ; and a/dtransition. This equation provided a mean of 1.00 for the
df = bond factor, equal to 0.50 for smooth fibers, 0.9 ratio of measured shear strength to calculated shear
for deformed fibers, and 1.0 for hooked fibers. strength, and it minimized the coefficient of variation (COV
Equation (7) incorporates the key factors of other models,3,13 = 14.9%) for the following values of the constants: A = 2.1;
and adds the size effect. This equation, however, was cali- B = 0.8; a/dtransition = 3.5; exp1 = 0.70; exp2 = 0.22; and
brated with only 29 tests of fiber-reinforced concrete beams, exp3 = 0.97.
of which some failed in flexure rather than shear. The resulting With little loss of accuracy (COV = 15.3%), Eq. (8) can be
equation was less accurate than Eq. (2), and Eq. (7) was written to closely resemble Zsuttys original equation
significantly unconservative for the Ashour, Hasanain, and
Wafa3 and the Lim, Paramasivam, and Lee10 tests (Table 4). 13
2/3 d
u = 3.7ef spfc --- + 0.8b (MPa) (9)
a
Table 5Statistical evaluation of expressions for
cracking shear
Mean value of cr,exp /cr,calc (COV)
No. of
Test series tests Proposed Eq. (11) Narayanan (Eq. (10))
This investigation 4 1.10 (0.08) 1.27 (0.06)
Mansur, Ong, and
9 0.92 (0.04) 1.05 (0.07)
Paramasivam11
Murty and
4 1.09 (0.12) 1.30 (0.15)
Venkatacharyulu12
Narayanan and
29 1.00 (0.16) 1.12 (0.14)
Darwish13
All tests 46 1.00 (0.14) 1.13 (0.14)
Fig. 8Evaluation of Imam et al. Eq. (7). Fig. 9Evaluation of proposed Eq. (9) for shear strength.