• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.3-9
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• 2007

Fiber-reinforced self-compacting concrete (FRSCC) is a new type of concrete mix that can mitigate two opposing weaknesses: poor workability in fiber-reinforced concrete and cracking resistance in plain SCC concrete. This study focused on early-age cracking of FRSCC due to restrained drying shrinkage, one of the most common causes of cracking. In order to investigate the effect of fiber on shrinkage cracking of FRSCC, ring shrinkage tests were performed for polypropylene and steel fiber-reinforced SCC. In addition, finite element analyses for those specimens were carried out considering drying shrinkage based on moisture diffusion, creep, cracking resistance of concrete, and the effect of fiber. The analysis results were verified via a comparison between the measured and calculated crack width. From the test and analysis results, the effectiveness of fiber with respect to reducing cracking was confirmed and some salient features on the shrinkage cracking of FRSCC were obtained.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.23 no.11
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• pp.5-11
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• 2022

The objective of this study is to evaluate the mechanical properties of high-flowable retaining wall material (RWM) incorporated with ground granulated blast-furnace slag (SG) and steel fiber (SF) based on a comparison with those of ordinary portland cement (OPC). To produce the specimens of RWM, some chemical agents such as superplasticizer (SP), air-entrained agent (AEA) and viscosity modifying agent (VMA) are added in the fresh RWM. The compressive, split tensile and flexural strength measurements were performed on the hardened RWM specimens. Additionally, surface electric resistivity and absorption tests according to ASTM standards were carried out at predetermined periods after water curing. It was found that the mechanical properties of slag cement concrete (SGC) RWM mix are better than those ordinary portland cement concrete (OPC) RWM mix. The effect of SF is remarkable to improve the mechanical properties of RWM mixes. It is noted that the usage of SG shows a beneficial effect to resist water penetration as well as long-term strength development of RWM mixes.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.13-20
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• 2023

This paper is aimed to evaluate the mechanical properties and durability of high-flowable retaining wall material (RWM) with different levels of steel fiber (SF) content. To produce the specimens of RWM, some chemical agents such as superplasticizer (SP), air-entrained agent (AEA) and viscosity modifying agent (VMA) were added in the fresh RWM. The compressive and split tensile strength measurements were performed on the hardened RWM specimens at the predetermined periods. Additionally, surface electric resistivity and absorption tests according to ASTM standards were carried out to examine mechanical properties of RWM mixes. The durable performances such as chloride ions penetrability and freezing-thawing resistance of RWM mixes were experimentally investigated. As resutls, it was found that the performance of RWM mix with SF were much better than that without SF, especially at the 2% addition of SF. Thus, it is noted that the proper addition of SF in the RWM mix may have a beneficial effect to improve mechanical properties and durability of RWM mixes.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.532-541
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• 2019

Even though shotcrete is a main support for securing the stability of tunnel, the performance of shotcrete is not properly checked due to various difficulties arisen from the characteristics of materials themselves which constitute shotcrete, such as steel fibers and accelerators, and the on-site quality control. In this study, the actual conditions of shotcrete applied to expressway tunnel construction sites were tried to find out, and then some improvement was tried to derive. For this purpose, the characteristics of steel fibers and accelerators supplied to the expressway construction sites were investigated. Also, shotcrete specimens were prepared at the tunnel sites and performance tests were carried out. For steel fiber, domestic production states were investigated, and carbon content and tensile strength were measured using the steel fibers collected in the construction sites. For three types of accelerators such as aluminate, cement mineral and alkali-free, basic properties and total amount of alkali contents were analyzed. Shotcrete specimens were prepared using on-site shotcrete machine with regard to mix designs and types of accelerators. Using these specimens, uniaxial compression tests and flexural tests were performed. As the results, compressive strength, flexural strength, flexural toughness, and etc. were compared with types of acclerators and mix designs.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.335-345
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• 2021

It is known from the literature that there are relatively few studies on the engineering properties of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) in early age. In fact, in order to ensure the safety of UHPC during construction and sufficient durability and long-term performance, it is necessary to explore the early behavior of UHPC. The test parameters (test control factors) investigated included the percentage of cement replaced by silica fume (SF), the percentage of cement replaced by ultra-fine silica powder (SFP), the amount of steel fiber (volume percent), and the amount of polypropylene fiber (volume percentage). The engineering properties of UHPC in the fresh mixing stage and at the age of 7 days were investigated. These properties include freshly mixed properties (slump, slump flow, and unit weight) and hardened mechanical properties (compressive strength, elastic modulus, flexural strength, and splitting tensile strength). Moreover, the effects of the experimental factors on the performance of the tested UHPC were evaluated by range analysis and variance analysis. The experiment results showed that the compressive strength of the C8 mix at the age of 7 days was highest of 111.5 MPa, and the compressive strength of the C1 mix at the age of 28 days was the highest of 128.1 MPa. In addition, the 28-day compressive strength in each experimental group increased by 13%-34% compared to the 7-day compressive strength. In terms of hardened mechanical properties, the performance of each experimental group was superior to that of the control group (without fiber and without additional binder materials), with considerable improvement, and the experimental group did not produce explosive or brittle damage after the test. Further, the flexural test process found that all test specimens exhibited deflection-hardening behavior, resulting in continued to increase carrying capacity after the first crack.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.1023-1030
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• 2002

From the early 1980s, the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) has been developed as a one of the standard tunneling method in Korea. Approximately 10 years ago, wet-mix shotcrete with sodium silicate accelerator (waterglass) was introduced and widely used to tunnel lining and underground support. However, this accelerator had some disadvantages due to the decrease of long-term strength compared to plain concrete (without accelerator) and low quality of the hardened shotcrete. In order to compensate for these disadvantages, recently developed alkali-free accelerator has been successfully demonstrated in numerous projects and applications as a new material to make tunnels more durable and safer. An experimental investigation was carried out in order to verify the strength behavior of wet-mix Steel Fiber Reinforced Shotcrete (SFRS) with alkali-free accelerator. Compressive strength, flexural strength and equivalent flexural strength were measured by testing specimens extracted from the shotcrete panels. From the results, wet-mix SFRS with alkali-free accelerator exhibited excellent strength improvement compared to the conventional shotcrete accelerator.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.469-483
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• 2018

Steel bars have been widely used as the primary reinforcement for Precast Segmental Concrete Lining for TBM Tunnels. Previously, studies have been carried out to gauge the potential for steel fiber reinforcement to replace the use of steel bar reinforcements in the segmental lining to reduce the amount of the steel bar reinforcement. Steel fiber reinforcements have been investigated and widely applied to SFRC TBM linings to improve the constructability of SFRC TBM linings worldwide. However, the steel fiber reinforcement often caused punctures to the water membranes inside tunnel lining and had long-term durability deterioration issues caused by steel corrosion, as well as cosmetic problems. Therefore, this paper sought to gauge the potential of synthetic fiber reinforcements, which have proven to be very attractive substitutes for steel fiber reinforcements. This study analyzed the performance of both steel and synthetic fiber reinforcements in segmental linings and evaluated the applicability of the fiber reinforcements to the TBM Precast Concrete Segmental Linings of TBM tunnels. As a conclusion, this study demonstrates that the potential use of steel and synthetic fibers in various combination, can substitute the rebar reinforcement in the concrete mix for segmental concrete linings.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2005.05b
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• pp.317-320
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• 2005

In recent years, according to the development of construction technique, the constructions of longer span bridges, taller buildings, deeper offshore structures, and other megastructures are calling for construction materials with increasingly improve properties. So, the demand for high-strength concrete(HSC) have been increased and many new structures have been built using HSC with the compressive strength about 100MPa. However, it is well-known that as the strength of concrete increases, concrete becomes more brittle. Recent studies, however, shown that the brittleness of HSC can be improved by adding some fibers to the concrete. Especially steel fiber reinforced concrete(SFRC) can be used in this case. Many research works have shown that SFRC results in better crack and deflection control, higher shear strength, improved fatigue performance, increased impact strength, reformed flexural strength, advanced fracture toughness and enhanced postcracking resistance. So, this is a study on the long-term response of SFRC applied to HPC about 40MPa. Therefore, in this study, the test results of twenty-six high-strength concrete specimens and steel fiber-reinforced concrete specimens, with steel fiber content of 1 $\%$ by volume were presented. And the results are analyzed by using of the factors of time, mix properties, humidity/temperature, and loading conditions.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.48-59
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• 2021

In this study, experiments were conducted to investigate the compressive·flexural performances of single fiber-reinforced mortar (FRM) using only steel fiber or carbon fiber which has different material properties as well as hybrid FRM using a mixture of steel and carbon fibers. The mortar specimens incorporated steel and carbon fibers in the mix proportions of 1+0%, 0.75+0.25%, 0.5+0.5%, 0.25+0.75% and 0+1% by volume at a total volume fraction of 1.0%. Their mechanical performance was compared and examined with a plain mortar without fiber at 28 days of age. The experiments of mortar showed that the hybrid FRM using a mixture of 0.75% steel fibers + 0.25% carbon fibers had the highest compressive and flexural strength, confirming by thus the synergistic reinforcing effect of the hybrid FRM. On the contrast, in the case of hybrid FRM using a mixture of 0.5% steel fibers + 0.5% carbon fibers witnessed the highest flexural toughness, suggesting as a result the optimal fiber mixing ratio of hybrid FRM to improve the strength and flexural toughness at the same time. Moreover, the fracture surface was observed through a scanning electron microscope (SEM) for image analysis of the FRM specimen. These results were of great help for images analysis of hybrid reinforcing fibers in cement matrix.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.45-55
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• 2002

From the early 1980's, the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) has been developed as one of the standard tunnelling methods in Korea. Approximately 10 years ago, wet-mix shotcrete with sodium silicate (waterglass) accelerator was introduced and widely used to tunnel lining and underground support. However, this accelerator had some disadvantages due to the decrease of long-term strength compared to plain concrete (without accelerator) and low quality of the hardened shotcrete. In order to compensate for these disadvantages, recently developed alkali-free accelerator has been successfully demonstrated in numerous projects and applications as a new material to make tunnels more durable and safer. An experimental investigation was carried out in order to verify the strength behavior of wet-mix Steel Fiber Reinforced Shotcrete (SFRS) with alkali-free accelerator. Compressive strength, flexural strength, and flexural toughness were measured by testing specimens extracted from the shotcrete panels. From the results, wet-mix SFRS with alkali-free accelerator exhibited excellent strength improvement compared to the conventional shotcrete accelerator.