• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.29-43
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• 2017

This study investigates the blast resistance of fiber-reinforced cementitious composite (FRCC) panels, with fiber volume fractions of 2%, subjected to contact explosions using an emulsion explosive. A number of FRCC panels with five different fiber mixtures (i.e., micro polyvinyl alcohol fiber, micro polyethylene fiber, macro hooked-end steel fiber, micro polyvinyl alcohol fiber with macro hooked-end steel fiber, and micro polyethylene fiber with macro hooked-end steel fiber) were fabricated and tested. In addition, the blast resistance of plain panels (i.e., non-fiber-reinforced high strength concrete, and non-fiber-reinforced cementitious composites) were examined for comparison with those of the FRCC panels. The resistance of the panels to spall failure improved with the addition of micro synthetic fibers and/or macro hooked-end steel fibers as compared to those of the plain panels. The fracture energy of the FRCC panels was significantly higher than that of the plain panels, which reduced the local damage experienced by the FRCCs. The cracks on the back side of the micro synthetic fiber-reinforced panel due to contact explosions were greatly controlled compared to the macro hooked-end steel fiber-reinforced panel. However, the blast resistance of the macro hooked-end steel fiber-reinforced panel was improved by hybrid with micro synthetic fibers.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.69-78
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• 2023

This paper investigates the effects of aspect ratio and volume fraction of hooked-end normal-strength steel fibers on the compressive and flexural properties of high-strength concrete with specified compressive strength of 60 MPa. Three types of hooked-end steel fibers with aspect ratios of 64, 67 and 80 were considered and three volume fractions of 0.25%, 0.50% and 0.75% for each steel fiber were respectively added into each high-strength concrete mixture. The test results indicated that the addition of normal-strength steel fibers is effective to improve compressive and flexural properties of high-strength concrete but fiber aspect ratio had little effect on the modulus of elasticity and compressive strength. As steel fiber content and aspect ratio increased, flexural beahvior of notched high-strength concrete beams was effectively improved.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.40-47
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• 2021

This study investigates the influence of hooked-end steel fiber volume fraction and aspect ratio on the mechanical properties, such as compressive and flexural performance, of concrete with specified compressive strength of 30MPa. Three types of hooked-end steel fibers with aspect ratios of 64, 67 and 80 were selected. The flexural tests of steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) prismatic specimens were conducted according to EN 14651. The compressive performance of SFRC with different volume fractions (0.25, 0.50 and 0.75%) were evaluated through standard compressive strength test method (KS F 2405). Experimental results indicated that the flexural strength, flexural toughness, fracture energy of concrete were improved as steel fiber volume fraction increases but there is no unique relationship between steel fiber volume fraction and compressive performance. The flexural and compressive properties of concrete incorporating hooked-end steel fiber with aspect ratio of 64 and 80 are a little better than those of SFRC with aspect ratio of 67. For each SFRC mixture used in the study, the residual flexural tensile strength ratio defined in Model Code 2010 was more than the limit value to be able to substitute rebar or welded mesh in structural members with the fiber reinforcement.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.3
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• pp.281-292
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• 2022

This study aimed to analyze the dynamic punching shear performance of slab-column joints under cyclic loads with the use of double-hooked end (5D) steel fibers. Structural systems such as slab-column joints are widely found in infrastructures. The susceptibility to collapse of such structures when submitted to seismic loads is highly dependent on the structural performance of the slab-column connections. For this reason, the punching capacity of reinforced concrete (RC) structures has been the subject of a great number of studies. Steel fibers are used to achieve a certain degree of ductility under seismic loads. In this context, 5D steel hooked fibers provide high levels of fiber anchoring, tensile strength and ductility. However, only limited research has been carried out on the performance under cyclic loads of concrete structural members containing steel fibers. This study covers this gap with experimental testing of five different full-scale subassemblies of RC slab-column joints: one without punching reinforcement, one with conventional punching reinforcement and three with 5D steel fibers. The subassemblies were tested under cyclic loading, which consisted of applying increasing lateral displacement cycles, such as in seismic situations, with a constant axial load on the column. This set of cycles was repeated for increasing axial loads on the column until failure. The results showed that 5D steel fiber subassemblies: i) had a greater capacity to dissipate energy, ii) improved punching shear strength and stiffness degradation under cyclic loads; and iii) increased cyclic loading capacity.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.319-332
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• 2020

The impacts of reinforcing concrete matrix with steel fibers, polypropylene fibers and recycled plastic fibers using different volume fractions of 0.15%, 0.5%, 1.5% and 2.5% on the compressive and tensile characteristics are experimentally investigated in the current research. Also, flexural behavior of plain concrete (PC) beams, shear performance of reinforced concrete (RC) beams and compressive characteristics of both PC and RC columns reinforced with recycled plastic fibers were studied. The experimental results showed that the steel fibers improved the splitting tensile strength of concrete higher than both the polypropylene fibers and recycled plastic fibers. The end-hooked steel fibers had a positive effect on the compressive strength of concrete while, the polypropylene fibers, the recycled plastic fibers and the rounded steel fibers had a negative impact. Compressive strength of end-hooked steel fiber specimen with volume fraction of 2.5% exhibited the highest value among all tested samples of 32.48 MPa, 21.83% higher than the control specimen. The ultimate load, stiffness, ductility and failure patterns of PC and RC beams in addition to PC and RC columns strengthened with recycled plastic fibers enhanced remarkably compared to non-strengthened elements. The maximum ultimate load and stiffness of RC column reinforced with recycled plastic fibers with 1.5% volume fraction improved by 21 and 15%, respectively compared to non-reinforced RC column.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.209-217
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• 2021

This paper investigates the effect of high strength hooked-end steel fiber content and aspect ratio on the compressive and flexural performance of concrete. A total of ten mixtures were prepared and tested. Concretes with specific compressive strength of 30 MPa were reinforced with three different aspect ratios (l/d) of steel fibers 64, 67, and 80 and three different percentages of steel fibers 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75% by volume of concrete. Tensile strengths of steel fibers with l/d of 64, 67, and 80 are 2,000, 2,400, and 2,100 MPa, respectively. The compressive and flexural properties of plain and steel fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC) mixtures were evaluated and compared. The experimental results indicated that the incorporation of high-strength hooked-end steel fibers had significant effects on the compressive and flexural performance of concrete. With the increase of steel fiber content, compressive performances, such as Poisson's ratio and toughness, of concrete were improved. The steel fibers with the least l/d of 67 resulted in a larger enhancement of compressive performances. The residual flexural strength, that is, post-cracking flexural resistance and toughness, of concrete is mainly depended on the dosage and aspect ratio of steel fibers. The residual flexural strength at serviceability (SLS) and ultimate limit state (ULS) defined in fib Model Code 2010 (MC2010) is increased as the fiber content and aspect ratio increase.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.35-43
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• 2022

The experimental investigations into hooked-end round steel fibers (HSF) effect on the age-dependent strengths of high volume fly ash (HVFA) concrete is studied. The concrete was prepared with class F fly ash used as partial cement replacement varied from 0% to 70% on an equal weight basis. Two percentages of HSF (i.e., 0.5% and 1.5% by volume fraction) of 50 mm length were added in plain, and 50% fly ash concrete mixes. The compressive and flexural tensile strength was determined at 7, 28, 56, and 90 days. The strength results of fly ash concrete mixes with and without steel fibers were compared with the plain concrete strength. The test results indicated that the strength of fly ash concrete is comparable with the plain concrete strength and further increases with an increase in the percentage of steel fibers. The maximum flexure strength of HVFA concrete is found with 0.5% steel fibers. It is concluded that the HVFA concrete with steel fibers of 50 mm length can effectively be used in concrete construction. The analytical models are proposed to predict the age-dependent compressive and flexural tensile strength of HVFA concrete with and without HSF. The compressive and tensile strength of HVFA concrete with HSF can be predicted using these models when the 28-day compressive strength of plain concrete is known. The present study will be helpful in the design and construction of reinforced and pre-stressed concrete structures made with HVFA and HSF.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.103-110
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• 2009

Since the mechanical properties of cement-based materials are time-dependent due to the prolonged cement hydration process, those of fiber reinforced concrete(FRC) may also be time-dependent. Toughness is one of important properties of FRC. Therefore, it should be investigated toughness development of FRCs with curing ages to fully understand the time-dependent characteristics of FRCs. To this end, the effect of curing ages on flexural toughness development of steel fiber reinforced concrete is studied. Three point bending test with notched beam specimen was adapted for this study. Hooked-end steel fiber(DRAMIX 40/30) was used as a fiber ingredient to investigate w/c ratio and fiber volume fraction effect on toughness development during curing. Three different water-cement ratios(0.44, 0.5 and 0.6) and fiber volume fractions(0%, 0.5% and 1%) were used as influence factors. Each mixture specimens were tested at five different ages, 0.5, 1, 3, 7 and 28 days. The study shows that flexure toughness development with age is quite different than other concrete material properties such as compressive strength. The study also shows that the toughness development trend correlates more closely to water/cement ratio than to fiber volume fraction.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.20-28
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• 2013

Flexure toughness of Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) shows a time-dependent characteristic due to the hydration process of the cement matrix in the SFRC system. The effect of two important factors, water/cement (w/c) ratio and fiber volume fraction, on the flexure toughness development of SFRC were investigated. Three different SFRC mixtures with hooked-end steel fibers were tested using a four-point bending testing configuration. Each mixture was tested at five different ages. The results showed that the post-peak toughness of SFRC developed at an earlier age than the first-crack toughness.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.449-461
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• 2014

The use of low-ductility welded wire fabric (WWF) as a main tensile reinforcement in concrete slabs compromises the ductility of concrete structures. Lower ductility in concrete structures can lead to brittle and catastrophic failure of the structures. This paper presents the experimental study carried out on eight simply supported one-way slabs to study the structural behavior of concrete slabs reinforced with low-ductility WWF and steel fibers. The different types of steel fibers used were crimped fiber, hooked-end fiber and twincone fiber. The experimental results show that the ductility behavior of the slab specimens with low-ductility reinforcement was significantly improved with the inclusion of $40kg/m^3$ of twincone fiber. Distribution of cracks was prominent in the slabs with twincone fiber, which also indicates the better distribution of internal forces in these slabs. However, the slab reinforced only with low-ductility reinforcement failed catastrophically with a single minor crack and without appreciable deflection.