Flexural Behavior of Slurry Infiltrated Mat Concrete (SIMCON)

Abstract

Slurry infiltrated mat concrete (SIMCON) is a new kind of fiber reinforced concrete with fibers preplaced in a mat form. It is shown in this paper that the mechanical properties of SIMCON such as flexural strength and toughness are improved significantly compared with conventional fiber reinforced concrete, due to the high fiber volume fraction and aspect ratio. Twelve series with a total 36 SIMCON specimens were tested under third-point bending. The effects of fiber volume fraction and fiber mat thickness on flexural behavior of SIMCON were studied in this experimental investigation. A special failure mode, consisting of a major vertical crack and horizontal branches, was observed and is analyzed in this paper.