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

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.125-142
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• 2016

An overall review of the structural behaviors of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) elements subjected to various loading conditions needs to be conducted to prevent duplicate research and to promote its practical applications. Thus, in this study, the behavior of various UHPFRC structures under different loading conditions, such as flexure, shear, torsion, and high-rate loads (impacts and blasts), were synthetically reviewed. In addition, the bond performance between UHPFRC and reinforcements, which is fundamental information for the structural performance of reinforced concrete structures, was investigated. The most widely used international recommendations for structural design with UHPFRC throughout the world (AFGC-SETRA and JSCE) were specifically introduced in terms of material models and flexural and shear design. Lastly, examples of practical applications of UHPFRC for both architectural and civil structures were examined.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.47-56
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• 2009

The first diagonal cracking and ultimate shear load of reinforced girder made of ultra high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) were investigated in this paper. Eleven girders were tested in which eight girders failed in shear. A simplified formulation for the first diagonal cracking load was proposed. An analytical model to predict the ultimate shear load was formulated based on the two bounds theory. A fiber reinforcing parameter was constituted based on the random assumption of steel fiber uniform distribution. The predicted values were compared with the conventional predictions and the test results. The proposed equation can be used for the first cracking status analysis, while the proposed equations for computing the ultimate shear strength can be used for the ultimate failure status analysis, which can also be utilized for numerical limit analysis of reinforced UHPFRC girder. The established fiber reinforcing theoretical model can also be a reference for micro-mechanics analysis of UHPFRC.

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

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.71 no.3
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• pp.211-221
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• 2019

To study the eccentric compression behavior of ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) columns, six UHPFRC columns and one high-strength concrete (HSC) column were tested. Variation parameters include load eccentricity, volume of steel fibers and stirrup ratio. The crack pattern, failure mode, bearing capacity, and deformation of the specimens were studied. The results showed that the UHPFRC columns had different failure modes. The large eccentric compression failure mode was the longitudinal tensile reinforcements yielded and many horizontal cracks appeared in the tension zone. The small eccentric compression failure mode was the longitudinal compressive reinforcements yielded and vertical cracks appeared in the compressive zone. Because of the bridging effect of steel fibers, the number of cracks significantly increased, and the width of cracks decreased. The load-deflection curves of the UHPFRC columns showed gradually descending without sudden dropping, indicating that the specimens had better deformation. The finite element (FE) analysis was performed to stimulate the damage process of the specimens with monotonic loading. The concrete damaged plasticity (CDP) model was adopted to characterize the behaviour of UHPFRC. The contribution of the UHPFRC tensile strength was considered in the bearing capacity, and the theoretical calculation formulas were derived. The theoretical calculation results were consistent with the test results. This research can provide the experimental and theoretical basis for UHPFRC columns in engineering applications.

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

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

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.61 no.6
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• pp.711-719
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• 2017

This study investigates the effects of reinforcing bar diameter and cover depth on the shrinkage behavior of restrained ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) slabs. For this, twelve large-sized UHPFRC slabs with three different rebar diameters ($d_b=9.5$, 15.9, and 22.2 mm) and four different cover depths (h=5, 10, 20, and 30 mm) were fabricated. In addition, a large-sized UHPFRC slab without steel rebar was fabricated for evaluating degree of restraint. Test results revealed that the uses of steel rebar with a large diameter, leading to a larger reinforcement ratio, and a low cover depth are unfavorable regarding the restrained shrinkage performance of UHPFRC slabs, since a larger rebar diameter and a lower cover depth result in a higher degree of restraint. The shrinkage strain near the exposed surface was high because of water evaporation. However, below a depth of 18 mm, the shrinkage strain was seldom influenced by the cover depth; this was because of the very dense microstructure of UHPFRC. Finally, owing to their superior tensile strength, all UHPFRC slabs with steel rebars tested in this study showed no shrinkage cracks until 30 days.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.451-465
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• 2020

This paper presents experimental and numerical investigations on mechanical properties of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) with four types of steel fibers; micro steel (MS), crimped (C), round crimped (RC) and hooked-end (H), in two fiber contents of 1% and 2% (by volume) and two lengths of 13 and 30 mm. Compression, direct tension, and four-point bending tests were carried out on four types of specimens (prism, cube, dog-bone and cylinder), to study tensile and flexural strength, fracture energy and modulus of elasticity. Results were compared with UHPC specimens without fibers, as well as with available equations for the modulus of elasticity. Specimens with MS fibers had the best performance for all mechanical properties. Among macro fibers, RC had better overall performance than H and C fibers. Increased fibers improved all mechanical properties of UHPFRC, except for modulus of elasticity, which saw a negligible effect (mostly less than 10%). Moreover, nonlinear finite element simulations successfully captured flexural response of UHPFRC prisms. Finally, nonlinear regression models provided reasonably well predictions of flexural load-deflection behavior of tested specimens (coefficient of correlation, R² over 0.90).

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.5A
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• pp.307-315
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• 2012

Recently, ultra high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) having over 180 MPa compressive strength and 10 MPa tensile strength has been developed in Korea. However, UHPFRC represents different material properties with normal concrete (NC) and conventional high performance concrete (HPC) such as a high early age autogenous shrinkage and a rapid dry on the surface, because it has a low water-binder ratio and high fineness admixtures without coarse aggregate. In this study, therefore, to propose suitable experimental methods and regulations, and to evaluate mechanical properties at a very early age for UHPFRC, setting, shrinkage and tensile tests were performed. From the setting test results, paraffin oil was an appropriate material to prevent drying effect on the surface, because if paraffin oil is applied on the surface, it can efficiently prevent the drying effect and does not disturb or catalyze the hydration of cement. From the ring-test results, it was defined that the shrinkage stress is generated at the time when the graph tendency of temperature and strain of inner steel ring is changed. By comparing with setting test result, the shrinkage stress was firstly occurred as the penetration resistance of 1.5 MPa was obtained, and it was about 0.6 and 2.1 hour faster than those of initial and final sets. So, the starting time of autogenous shrinkage measurement (time-zero) of UHPFRC was determined when the penetration resistance of 1.5 MPa was obtained. Finally, the tensile strength and elastic modulus of UHPFRC were measured from near initial setting time by using a very early age tensile test apparatus, and the prediction models for tensile strength and elastic modulus were proposed.