• 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.

• 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.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.323-338
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• 2014

In this study a new innovative method of earthquake-resistant strengthening of reinforced concrete structures is presented for the first time. Strengthening according to this new method consists of the construction of steel fiber ultra-high-strength concrete jackets without conventional reinforcement which is usually applied in the construction of conventional reinforced concrete jackets. An innovative solution is proposed also for the first time that ensures a satisfactory seismic performance of existing reinforced concrete structures, strengthened by using composite materials. The weak point of the use of such materials in repairing and strengthening of old R/C structures is the area of beam-column joints. According to the proposed solution, the joints can be strengthened with a steel fiber ultra-high-strength concrete jacket, while strengthening of columns can be achieved by using CFRPs. The experimental results showed that the performance of the subassemblage strengthened with the proposed mixed solution was much better than that of the subassemblage retrofitted completely with CFRPs.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2006.05b
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• pp.549-552
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• 2006

Generally the ultra-high strength steel reinforced concrete has rich mix composition composed of high-strength type mineral admixtures and as a result of very low water-binder ratio(about under w/b=25%), it reveals ultra-high compressive strength(about over 100Mpa). Also, in order to obtain sufficient toughness after construction, we usually mix a large quantity steel fiber with ultra-high strength steel reinforced concrete therefore we must use proper mixer for workability. When we make the ultra-high strength steel reinforced concrete we need more long mixing time or much super-plasticizer than when we manufacture normal concrete. These bring about economical problems and performance deterioration. Therefore, in this study, in order to manufacture easily ultra-high strength steel reinforced concrete we develope a dedicated mixer for ultra-high strength steel reinforced concrete with high speed type. It carried out the examination for comparison between the dedicated and general type mixer, the analysis and counterplan of the point at issue when we manufacture ultra-high strength steel reinforced concrete by the dedicated mixer.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.195-209
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• 2020

This study investigates the behavior of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) with hybrid macro-micro steel and macro steel-polypropylene (PP) fibers. Compression, direct and indirect tension tests were carried out on cubic and cylindrical, dogbone and prismatic specimens, respectively. Three types of macro steel fibers, i.e., round crimped (RC), crimped (C), and hooked (H) were combined with micro steel (MS) and PP fibers in overall ratios of 2% by volume. Additionally, numerical analyses were performed to validate the test results. Parameters studied included, fracture energy, tensile strength, compressive strength, flexural strength, and residual strength. Tests showed that replacing PP fibers with MS significantly improves all parameters particularly flexural strength (17.38 MPa compared to 37.71 MPa). Additionally, the adopted numerical approach successfully captured the flexural load-deflection response of experimental beams. Lastly, the proposed regression model for the flexural load-deflection curve compared very well with experimental results, as evidenced by its coefficient of correlation (R²) of over 0.90.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.283-290
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• 2015

This paper proposes a method for predicting flexural strength of hybrid steel fiber-reinforced ultra-high strength concrete beams. It includes an experimental test framework and associated numerical analyses. The experimental program includes flexural test results of hybrid steel fiber-reinforced ultra-high strength concrete beams with steel fiber content of 1.5% by volume. Tensile softening characteristics play an important role in the structural behavior of steel fiber-reinforced ultra high performance concrete. Tension softening modeling is carried out by using crack equation based on fictitious crack and inverse analysis in which load-crack mouth opening displacement relationship is considered. The comparison of moment-curvature curves of the numerical analysis results with the test results shows a reasonable agreement. Therefore, the numerical results confirms that good prediction of flexural behavior of steel fiber-reinforced ultra high strength concrete beams can be achieved by employing the proposed method.

• 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.

• 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).

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.588-599
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• 2019

This research presents a structural design of high-level waste (HLW) container using ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHP-FRC) material. The proposed design aims to overcome the drawbacks of the existing concrete containers which are heavy, difficult to fabricate, and expensive. In this study, the dry storage container (DSC) that commonly used at Canadian Nuclear facilities is selected to present the proposed design. The design has been performed such that the new UHP-FRC alternative has a structural stiffness equivalent to the existing steel-concrete-steel container under various loading scenarios. Size optimization technique is used with the aim of maximizing stiffness, and minimizing the cost while satisfying both the design stresses and construction requirements. Then, the integrity of the new design has been evaluated against accidental drop-impact events based on realistic drop scenarios. The optimization results showed: the stiffness of the UHP-FRC container (300 mm wall thick) is being in the range of 1.35-1.75 times the stiffness of existing DSC (550 mm wall thick). The use of UHP-FRC leads to decrease the container weight by more than 60%. The UHP-FRC container showed a significant enhancement in performance in comparison to the existing DSC design under considered accidental drop impact scenarios.