• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.473-487
• /
• 2021

The review of the literature and design guidelines indicates a lack of design codes governing the shear strength of reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened with ultrahigh-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC). This study uses the results of a 3D finite element model constructed previously by the authors and verified against an experimental programme to gain a clear understanding of the shear strength of RC beams strengthened with UHPFRC by using different schemes. Experimental results found in the literature along with the numerical results for shear capacities of normal-strength RC and UHPFRC beams without stirrups are compared with available code design guidelines and empirical models found in the literature. The results show variance between the empirical models and the experimental results. Accordingly, proposed equations derived based on empirical models found in the literature were set to estimate the shear capacity of normal-strength RC beams without stirrups. In addition, the term 'shear span-to-depth ratio' is not considered in the equations for design guidelines found in the literature regarding the shear capacity of UHPFRC beams without stirrups. Consequently, a formula estimating the shear strength of UHPFRC and RC beams strengthened with UHPFRC plates and considering the effect of shear span-to-depth ratio is proposed and validated against an experimental programme previously conducted by the authors.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.177-188
• /
• 2016

One of the primary concerns about the design aspects is that how to deal with the shear reinforcement in the ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) beam. This study aims to investigate the shear behavior of UHPFRC rectangular cross sectional beams with fiber volume fraction of 1.5 % considering a spacing of shear reinforcement. Shear tests for simply supported UHPFRC beams were performed. Test results showed that the steel fibers substantially improved of the shear resistance of the UHPFRC beams. Also, shear reinforcement had a synergetic effect on enhancement of ductility. Even though the spacing of shear reinforcement exceeds the spacing limit recommended by current design codes (ACI 318-14), shear strength of UHPFRC beam was noticeably greater than current design codes. Therefore, the spacing limit of 0.75d can be allowed for UHPFRC beams.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.159-172
• /
• 2019

This paper presents an investigation into the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams retrofitted by ultra-high performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) layers. The experimental study has been conducted in two parts. In the first part, four methods of retrofitting with UHPFRC layers in both the up and down sides of the beams have been proposed and their efficiency in the bonding of the normal concrete and ultra-high performance fiber-reinforced concrete has been discussed. The results showed that using the grooving method and the pre-casted UHPFRC layers in comparison with the sandblasting method and the cast-in-place UHPFRC layers leads to increase the load carrying capacity and the energy absorption capacity and causes high bond strength between two concretes. In the second part of the experimental study, the tests have been conducted on the beams with single UHPFRC layer in the down side and in the up side, using the effective retrofitting method chosen from the first part. The results are compared with those of non-retrofitted beam and the results of the first part of experimental study. The results showed that the retrofitted beam with two UHPFRC layers in the up and down sides has the highest energy absorption and load carrying capacity. A finite element analysis was applied to prediction the flexural behavior of the composite beams. A good agreement was achieved between the finite element and experimental results. Finally, a parametric study was carried out on full-scale retrofitted beams. The results indicated that in all retrofitted beams with UHPFRC in single and two sides, increasing of the UHPFRC layer thickness causes the load carrying capacity to be increased. Also, increases of the normal concrete compressive strength improved the cracking load of the beams.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.759-774
• /
• 2015

This study simulates the flexural behavior of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) beams reinforced with steel and glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) rebars. For this, micromechanics-based modeling was first carried out on the basis of single fiber pullout models considering inclination angle. Two different tension-softening curves (TSCs) with the assumptions of 2-dimensional (2-D) and 3-dimensional (3-D) random fiber orientations were obtained from the micromechanics-based modeling, and linear elastic compressive and tensile models before the occurrence of cracks were obtained from the mechanical tests and rule of mixture. Finite element analysis incorporating smeared crack model was used due to the multiple cracking behaviors of structural UHPFRC beams, and the characteristic length of two times the element width (or two times the average crack spacing at the peak load) was suggested as a result of parametric study. Analytical results showed that the assumption of 2-D random fiber orientation is appropriate to a non-reinforced UHPFRC beam, whereas the assumption of 3-D random fiber orientation is suitable for UHPFRC beams reinforced with steel and GFRP rebars due to disorder of fiber alignment from the internal reinforcements. The micromechanics-based finite element analysis also well predicted the serviceability deflections of UHPFRC beams with GFRP rebars and hybrid reinforcements.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.37-49
• /
• 2019

In this study, the shear behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) beams that were retrofitted using precast panels of ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) is presented. The precast UHPFRC panels were glued to the side surfaces of RC beams using epoxy adhesive in two different configurations: (i) retrofitting two sides, and (ii) retrofitting three sides. Experimental tests on the adhesive bond were conducted to estimate the bond capacity between the UHPFRC and normal concrete. All the specimens were tested in shear under varying levels of shear span-to-depth ratio (a/d=1.0; 1.5). For both types of configuration, the retrofitted specimens exhibited a significant improvement in terms of stiffness, load carrying capacity and failure mode. In addition, the UHPFRC retrofitting panels glued in three-sides shifted the failure from brittle shear to a more ductile flexural failure with enhancing the shear capacity up to 70%. This was more noticeable in beams that were tested with a/d=1.5. An approach for the approximation of the failure capacity of the retrofitted RC beams was evolved using a multi-level regression of the data obtained from the experimental work. The predicted values of strength have been validated by comparing them with the available test data. In addition, a 3-D finite element model (FEM) was developed to estimate the failure load and overall behaviour of the retrofitted beams. The FEM of the retrofitted beams was conducted using the non-linear finite element software ABAQUS.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.85 no.4
• /
• pp.511-529
• /
• 2023

This paper aims to better understand the bonding behavior in Reinforced Concrete beams strengthened with an Ultra-High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete (RCUHPFRC) layer on the compression side using experimental tests and numerical analyses. The UHPFRC mix design was obtained through an optimization procedure, and the characterization of the materials included compression and slant shear tests. Flexural tests were carried out in RC beams and RC-UHPFRC beams. The tests demonstrated a debonding of the UHPFRC layer. In addition, 3D finite element analyses were carried out in the Abaqus CAE program, in which the interface is modeled considering a zero-thickness cohesive-contact approach. The cohesive parameters are investigated, aiming to calibrate the numerical models, and a sensitivity analysis is performed to check the reliability of the assumed cohesive parameters and the mesh size. Finally, the experimental and numerical values are compared, showing a good approximation for both the RC beams and the RC strengthened beams.

• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.45-55
• /
• 2022

In this article, the flexural and shear capacity of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete beams (UHPFRC) using two kinds of rebars, including GFRP and steel rebars, are experimentally investigated. For this purpose, six UHPFRC beams (250 × 300 × 1650 mm) with three reinforcement ratios (ρ) of 0.64, 1.05, and 1.45 were constructed using 2% steel fibers by volume. Half of the specimens were made of UHPFRC reinforced with GFRP rebars, while the other half were reinforced with conventional steel rebars. All specimens were tested to failure in four-point bending. Both the load-deformation at mid-span and the failure pattern were studied. The results showed that utilizing GFRP bars increases the flexural strength of UHPFRC beams in comparison to those made of steel bars, but at the same time, it reduces the post-cracking strain hardening. Furthermore, by increasing the percentage of longitudinal bars, both the post-cracking strain hardening and load-bearing capacity increase. Comparing the experiment results with some of the available equations and provisions cited in the valid design codes reveals that some of the equations to predict the flexural strength of UHPFRC beams reinforced with conventional steel and GFRP bars are reasonably conservative, while Khalil and Tayfur model is un-conservative. This issue makes it essential to modify the presented equations in this research for predicting the flexural strength of UHPFRC beams using GFRP bars.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.82 no.1
• /
• pp.81-92
• /
• 2022

Ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) is a composite building material with high ductility, fatigue resistance, fracture toughness, durability, and energy absorption capacity. The aim of this study is to develop a nonlinear finite element model that can simulate the response of the UHPFRC beam exposed to impact loads. A nonlinear finite element model was developed in ABAQUS to simulate the real response of UHPFRC beams. The numerical results showed that the model was highly successful to capture the experimental results of selected beams from the literature. A parametric study was carried out to investigate the effects of reinforcement ratio and impact velocity on the response of the UHPFRC beam in terms of midpoint displacement, impact load value, and residual load-carrying capacity. In the parametric study, the nonlinear analysis was performed in two steps for 12 different finite element models. In the first step, dynamic analysis was performed to monitor the response of the UHPFRC beam under impact loads. In the second step, static analysis was conducted to determine the residual load-carrying capacity of the beams. The parametric study has shown that the reinforcement ratio and the impact velocity affect maximum and residual displacement value substantially.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.138-145
• /
• 2018

This paper studies the bending behavior of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) beams focused on the effect of variation in major material design parameters such as tensile strength, elastic modulus of UHPFRC, and rebar ratio. Analytical results show that the variation in the range of ${\pm}20%$ in the tensile strength of UHPFRC causes the significant difference in ${\pm}8{\sim}9%$ of bending strength compared to the reference condition. The variation of elastic modulus in UHPFRC rarely causes the effect on the bending strength of the UHPFRC section, whereas causes the difference in the slopes of moment-curvature curves, indicating different bending stiffness of UHPFRC sections. For the rebar with yield strength of 400MPa, the bending strength of SC120f is increased by 30, 67, and 99% when the rebar ratio is 1.0, 1.5, and 20%, respectively, compared to the rebar ratio of 0.5%. Therefore, it is observed that the variation of rebar ratio significantly affects the difference in bending strength of UHPFRC beams. However, as the compressive strength of UHPFRC becomes greater, the effect of rebar ratio on the increase of bending strength is decreased.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
• /
• v.23 no.7
• /
• pp.152-163
• /
• 2019

In this paper, effect of steel fiber inclusion, compressive strength of matrix, shear reinforcement and shear span to depth ratio on the flexural behavior of UHPFRC(Ultra High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete) were investigated with test of 10-UHPFRC beam specimens. All test specimens were subjected to the flexural static loading. It was shown that steel fiber significantly improve the shear strength of UHPFRC beams. 2% volume fraction of steel fiber change the mode of failure from shear failure to flexural failure and delayed the failure of compressive strut with comparatively short shear span to depth ratio. UHPFRC beams without steel fiber had a 45-degree crack angle and fiber reinforced one had lower crack angle. Shear reinforcement contribution on shear strength of beams can be calculated by 45-degree truss model with acceptable conservatism. Using test results, French and Korean UHPFRC design recommendations were evaluated. French recommendation have shown conservative results on flexural behavior but Korean recommendation have shown overestimation for flexural strength. Both recommendations have shown the conservatism on the flexural ductility and shear strength either.