Behavior of Reinforced Steel‐Fiber‐Concrete Beams in Flexure

Abstract

An analytical and experimental investigation is carried out into the deformational behavior and strength of reinforced steel‐fiberconcrete (RSFC) beams in flexure. Explicit expressions are derived for the moment‐curvature (M‐ϕ) and load‐deflection (P‐δ) behavior of simply supported beams based on idealized stress‐strain relationships for the steel‐fiber concrete (SFC) and the reinforcing steel. It is shown that RSFC beams with reinforcement have increased flexural strength and ductility at ultimate load when compared to similarly concrete beams with normal reinforcement only. RSFC beams also show less deformation than similar plain reinforced concrete ones at the same load level. Analytically predicted M‐ϕ and P‐δ curves are compared and found to agree well with the experimental data. The present approach is thus a useful tool in the analytical study and design of RSFC members.