• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.286-294
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• 2006

This study has examined the flexural properties of natural and chemically modified coir fiber reinforced cementitious composites (CFRCC). Coir fibers of two different average lengths were used, and the longer coir fibers were also treated with a 1% NaOH solution for comparison. The fibers were combined with cementitious materials and chemical agents (dispersant, defoamer or wetting agent) to form CFRCC. The flexural properties of the composites, including elastic stress, flexural strength, toughness and toughness index, were measured. The effects of fiber treatments, addition of chemical agents and accelerated ageing of composites on the composites' flexural properties were examined. The results showed that the CFRCC samples were 5-12 % lighter than the conventional mortar, and that the addition of coir fibers improved the flexural strength of the CFRCC materials. Toughness and toughness index, which were associated with the work of fracture, were increased more than ten times. For the alkalized long coir fiber composites, a higher immediate and long-term toughness index was achieved. SEM microstructure images revealed improved physicochemical bonding in the treated CFRCC.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.581-586
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• 2002

Addition of steel fiber to shotcrete is to improve the brittleness of concrete. Quality of steel fiber reinforced shotcrete can be evaluated by quantitive analysis of toughness characteristics after cracking. The toughness characteristics can be expressed by absolute value of energy absorption capacity, non-dimensional toughness index related to the energy absorption capacity, and equivalent flexural strength at arbitrary deflection. In this study, merits and demerits of flexural toughness by RTA round panel of Australia and other specifications have been analyzed.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.481-492
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• 2018

In this paper, a new hybrid fiber system (NHFS) is investigated for the application of slab. The steel fiber, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber and calcium carbonate ($CaCO_3$) whisker is added to form NHFS. The four-point bending test is carried out on the flexural properties of slab with plain, steel fiber, traditional hybrid fiber system (THFS) and NHFS reinforced cementitious composites. The flexural behavior is evaluated by ASTM C1018-97, JCI-SF4 and post-crack strength (PCS) technique. The evaluation parameters of flexural toughness such as toughness index (TI), equivalent flexural strength (EFS) and PCS are determined. The size of slab specimens is $15mm(thickness){\times}50mm(width){\times}200mm(length)$. The results show that adding $CaCO_3$ whisker to THFS can significantly improve the flexural strength, TI, EFS, PCS of the slab. The empirical relation between reinforcing index ($RI_v$) and flexural parameters show that flexural parameters of slabs increase first and then decrease; which indicates that optimum $RI_v$ values can be helpful in the considering the mix design of steel-PVA fibers-$CaCO_3$ whisker composites for achieving the desired flexural-related properties. The scanning electron microscopy is performed to observe the micro-morphological characteristics of the fracture surface, which proved the positive hybrid effect among the different fibers in cementitious composites. The NHFS can arrest the generation and propagation of the crack from micro to macro level.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.207-220
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• 2007

In this paper, hybrid fibers including high elastic modulus steel fiber and low elastic modulus synthetic macro-fiber (HPP) as two elements were used as reinforcement materials in concrete. The flexural toughness, flexural impact and fracture performance of the composites were investigated systematically. Flexural impact strength was analyzed with statistic analyses method; based on ASTM and JSCE method, an improved flexural toughness evaluating method suitable for concrete with synthetic macro-fiber was proposed herein. The experimental results showed that when the total fiber volume fractions ($V_f^a$) were kept as a constant ($V_f^a=1.5%$), compared with single type of steel or HPP fibers, hybrid fibers can significantly improve the toughness, flexural impact life and fracture properties of concrete. Relative residual strength RSI', impact ductile index ${\lambda}$ and fracture energy $G_F$ of concrete combined with hybrid fibers were respectively 66-80%, 5-12 and 121-137 N/m, which indicated that the synergistic effects (or combined effects) between steel fiber and synthetic macro-fiber were good.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.651-658
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• 2010

Sixteen concrete mixes reinforced with hybrid steel-polybinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers and a control concrete mix with no fiber were tested in order to examine the effect of the micro and macro fibers on the slump and different mechanical properties of concrete. Main variables investigated were length and volume fraction of steel and PVA fibers. The measured mechanical properties of hybrid fiber reinforced concrete were analyzed using the fiber reinforcing index and compared with those recorded from monolithic steel or PVA fiber reinforced concrete. The initial slump of hybrid fiber reinforced concrete decreased with the increase of the aspect ratio and the volume fraction of fibers. In addition, splitting tensile strength, modui of rupture and elasticity, and flexural toughness index of concrete increased with the increase of the fiber reinforcement index. Modulus of rupture and flexural toughness index of hybrid fiber reinforced concrete were higher than those of monolithic fiber reinforced concrete, though the total volume fraction of hybrid fibers was lower than that of monolithic fiber. For enhancing the flexural toughness index of hybrid fiber reinforced concrete, using the steel fiber of 60 mm length was more effective than using the steel fibers combined with 60 mm and 30 mm lengths.

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.187-197
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• 2004

The compressive and flexural properties of hemp fiber reinforced concretes (FRC) were examined in this paper. Natural hemp fiber was mixed using dry and wet mixing methods to fabricate the FRC. Mechanical properties of the FRC were investigated. The main factors affecting compressive and flexural properties of the FRC materials were evaluated with an orthogonal test design. Fiber content by weight has the largest effect. The method for casting hemp FRC has been optimised. Under the optimum conditions, compressive strength increased by 4 %, flexural strength increased by 9 %, flexural toughness increased by 144 %, and flexural toughness index increased by 214 %.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.483-489
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• 2014

In this study, the flexural test of amorphous steel fiber-reinforced concrete was performed according to ASTM C 1609 to investigate its flexural performances. The amorphous steel fibers have different configurations from conventional steel fibers : thinner sections and coarser surfaces. Primary test parameters are fiber type (amorphous and conventional steel fibers), concrete compressive strength (27 and 50 MPa), and fiber volume fraction (0.25, 0.50, and 0.75%). Based on the test results, flexural strength and flexural toughness of the amorphous and conventional steel fiber-reinforced concrete were investigated. The results showed that the addition of the amorphous steel fibers into concrete could enhance both flexural strength and toughness while the addition of the conventional steel fibers into concrete was mainly effective to increase the flexural toughness.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.53-62
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• 2013

A 5-20 cm thick shocrete has been routinely constructed for NATM tunneling method to stabilize and confine the excavated rock of tunnel construction site. A $40kg/m^3$ of steel fibers are usually mixed into such shotcrete but these steel fibers may not be evenly distributed depending on shotcrete machines, mixing ratios and excavated rock conditions. In this study, square column shotcrete-mimicked concrete specimens of $15cm{\times}15cm{\times}55cm$ were prepared with 5 equal layers and 5 or 20% cement ratio. The specimens were prepared with different reinforced-patterns: non-reinforced, middle layer-reinforced, 1, 3, and 5 layers-reinforced, or all layers reinforced. The specimens were air-cured for 7 days and tested for flexural strength. The influence of steel-fiber distribution on flexural strength and toughness of shotcrete-mimicked concrete specimens was investigated. In the case of a specimen with cement ratio of 20%, a flexural strength increased as a number of fiber-reinforced layer increased. The flexural strength of one-layer reinforced specimen showed 20% less than that of evenly fiber-distributed specimen. On the other hand, a specimen with cement ratio of 5% decreased as the number of fiber-reinforced layers increased. A toughness index increased as the number of fiber-reinforced layers increased, regardless of cement ratios. The toughness index of evenly fiber-distributed specimen showed 2-3 times as large as that of one-layer reinforced specimen.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.13 no.6 s.58
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• pp.166-175
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• 2009

An experimental study was carried out to estimate the flexural performance of steel fiberreinforced self-compacting concrete. Seven slabs with three different steel fiber-reinforced concretes were prepared to make beam specimens. After proper curing period, each slab was cut to five beams with a diamond saw. The beam specimen was tested with displacement control method to obtain load-deflection curve. As the results, the self-compacting concrete beam showed higher flexural strength, ductility and toughness index compared to the normal concrete beam. This means that steel fiber-reinforced self-compacting concrete can be used more widely in the field of architecture and civil engineering because of its self-compactability and good mechanical properties.

• Magazine of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.209-220
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• 1999

This paper is aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of flexural toughness of slab panel structures($60{\times}60{\times}10$) reinforced by steel fiber instead of wire mesh. Steel fiber used in this study is double hooked Dramix type fiber. And the fiber length is 60mm, diameter is 0.8mm, Various assessment methods of toughness index are used to estimate the proper effectiveness. In this experimental study, we find that Johnston, JCI-SF4 and EFNARC method are more effective to assess the flexural toughness of slab panels than the others. And the steel fiber is very effective alternative material to reinforce slab panel structures instead of wire mesh. Fiber volume fraction of 0.5~0.75% is more useful than the others in enhancing the post-peak energy absorption and toughness index by Johnston's $I_{5.5}$ assessment method. And the slab panels reinforcing with steel fiber are more resistant to crack propagation than wire mesh reinforcing slabs.