Abstract
Severe cracks on Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures caused by structural displacement can be often one of the main reasons for the degradation of tensile and flexural rigidities of RC structures and for the deterioration of durability and serviceability of RC structures through accelerated steel corrosion. These combined factors adversely affect the performance of RC concrete, leading to shortened life time of RC structures. In consideration of these problems, we conducted 3 point bending experiments by employing three different types of concrete specimens: fiber-net reinforced concrete (FNRC), polypropylene-fiber reinforced concrete (PFRC), and plain concrete (PC). FNRC is well known for its strong corrosion resistance, light self-weight, and excellent tensile strength, while PFRC is known to be effective in crack control. FNRC was found to have the best first and final crack resistances followed by PFRC and PC, as evidenced by the highest initial crack load and the smallest final crack width, respectively. The FNRC specimens with various tensile strength of fiber net exhibited greater ultimate strengths than those for PFRC and PC. Furthermore, the crack widths of FNRC specimens were smaller than those calculated by the crack-width estimation equation of the KCI and ACI code. Therefore, we conclude that fiber net reinforcement is effective not only on crack control, but also on loading share.
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