Flexural Tensile Behavior of Single and Novel Multiple Hooked-End Steel Fiber–Reinforced Notched Concrete Beams

Abstract

Novel multiple hooked-end steel fibers possessing high anchorage with the concrete matrix have been invented and are desired to achieve significant improvement in the performance of steel fiber–reinforced concrete (SFRC). In this study, C50/C70/C80 notched concrete beams containing 4D steel fibers with 1.5 hooked ends at a dosage of 0–110 kg/m3, 5D fibers with double hook-ends at a dosage of 0–110 kg/m3, and 3D steel fibers with a single hooked end at a dosage of 0–70 kg/m3 were tested under three-point bending. The experimental results indicated that increasing fiber dosage and the number of hooked ends were generally effective in improving the flexural tensile behavior of concrete beams, especially high-strength concrete beams. The two linear relationships of the equivalent flexural tensile strength feq,2 and feq,3, evaluated by RILEM TC 162-TDF, as well as the residual flexural tensile strength fr,1 and fr,4, evaluated by BS EN 14651, were confirmed to be appropriate for concrete beams reinforced by 3D, 4D, and 5D steel fibers. Based on the experimental results from this study and more in the literature, the analytical equation, proposed by Naaman et al. and simplified by Pajak et al., was verified to be reliable for predicting the maximum flexural tensile strength for concrete beams reinforced by 3D, 4D, and 5D steel fibers. Furthermore, the analytical equation, proposed by Venkateshwaran et al., that can explicitly take into account the effects of concrete compressive strength, fiber volume fraction, fiber aspect ratio, fiber length, and number of fiber hook ends, was modified for predicting the residual flexural tensile strength (fr,i) of novel multiple hooked-end SFRC. It was found that the modified Venkateshwaran et al. equation was approved as valid for high-strength SFRCs in this study, whereas the original one only applies for low-strength and normal-strength SFRCs. All these represent a step forward in advancement on the knowledge and understanding of SFRC with novel multiple hooked-end steel fibers.