Construction Materials Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers

http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/coma.15.00019
Estimating crack widths in steel Paper 1500019
Received 09/03/2015 Accepted 04/06/2015
fibre-reinforced concrete
Keywords: concrete structures/strength and testing of materials/
Hover, Psomas and Eddie tunnels & tunnelling

ICE Publishing: All rights reserved

Estimating crack widths in steel

fibre-reinforced concrete
&
1 Eyre Hover MEng, PhD &
3 Colin Eddie BSc, FREng, CEng, FICE
Tunnel Design Engineer, UNPS Limited, Rugby, UK Managing Director, UNPS Limited, Rugby, UK
&
2 Sotiris Psomas Dipl-Ing, MSc, CEng, MICE
Senior Engineering Manager, UNPS Limited, Rugby, UK

1 2 3

The use of steel fibres as reinforcement for sprayed concrete tunnel linings offers significant potential savings in time
and cost. These provide a degree of crack control and an increase in ductility to the otherwise brittle material, and
while the properties of steel fibre-reinforced concrete (SFRC) are well understood, its ability to control cracks is not
quantifiable or justifiable in the design of concrete sections. This paper describes the novel application of particle
image velocimetry (PIV) to the study of cracking in plain concrete and SFRC four-point flexural beam tests. Strain
hardening under bending was observed, as was the propagation of multiple cracks (multicracking) in SFRC beams, in
contrast to the brittle failure of the plain concrete specimen. The stressstrain behaviour of the material was
quantified by means of digital photographs of the test, and Youngs modulus of the SFRC was found to be similar to
that of plain concrete. Cracks on the side of the beam as small as 005 mm and up to 4 mm were measured with an
error < 002 mm, making PIV a viable option for crack width analysis for the basis of SFRC design assisted by testing,
supported by BS EN 1990.

Notation Sna,c1 PIV measured spacing between interrogation areas

b breadth of the beam on the neutral axis at first crack
E Youngs modulus of the material Sna,i PIV measured spacing between interrogation areas
Ei initial elastic modulus on the neutral axis at the ith load stage
Es secant elastic modulus So original PIV measured spacing between interrogation
fct tensile strength of the concrete areas
fctd design tensile strength of the concrete t time
fct,fl flexural strength of the concrete VX coefficient of variation of X
fctk characteristic tensile strength of the concrete w crack width on the surface of the beam
fctm mean tensile strength of the concrete wn crack width at depth n into the beam
fctm,fl mean flexural strength of the concrete X measurement data
h height of the beam or thickness of the concrete lining ct,pl coefficient taking into account the long-term effects
kn characteristic fractile factor of tensile strength
L length of the test beam c safety factor for concrete
lg length of the fibre optic Bragg grating optical xn x distance between a pair of IAs at depth n
fibres yn y distance between a pair of IAs at depth n
M bending moment xi,n x displacement of the ith interrogation area (IA) at
Sn particle image velocimetry (PIV) measured spacing depth n
between interrogation areas at the nth depth yi,n y displacement of the ith IA at depth n
increment g gauge strain

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 Construction Materials
y longitudinal strain
y,c1 longitudinal strain at first crack
y,el longitudinal elastic strain
y,i,n longitudinal strain at the ith load stage, at depth n
1. Introduction
Sprayed concrete linings have been used since the 1960s to
stabilise tunnels in rock and self-supporting soils such as the
London Clay. Traditionally built using shotcrete reinforced
with steel rebar or mesh, more recent tunnels have incorpor-
ated the use of steel fibres distributed homogeneously in the
concrete mix. Steel fibres are more durable than steel rebar in
severe exposure environments and are generally more cost and
time efficient than traditional methods of reinforcement in
linings.
Structural concrete is generally a material of low hydraulic con-
ductivity; however, tunnel concrete linings commonly suffer
from the ingress of groundwater. This is due to the presence of
cracks which increases the mass permeability of the lining and
reduces both its performance and its exposure protection,
making crack control a significant issue in tunnelling. Steel
fibres eliminate spalling damage, assist in controlling shrinkage-
induced cracking and ensure corrosion protection as long as
crack widths are limited (to < 03 mm) to allow autogenous
healing of the concrete to take place. The tensile properties of
steel fibre-reinforced concrete (SFRC) are similar to those of
plain concrete up to first crack for low-fibre dosages, while the
compressive properties are essentially unaffected (Bentur and
Mindess, 2007). After the first crack (formation), an increase in
ductility can be observed both in tension and compression.
While the performance of SFRC linings under loading is well
understood, the cracking behaviour cannot be predicted and it
cannot easily be determined whether a design will ensure a suf-
ficient control of crack widths, for low dosages of steel fibres
used in practice (up to 10% per volume).
For tunnel linings, crack widths at a given strain level cannot
be determined through finite-element analyses (FEAs) alone,
and therefore they need to be supplemented by representative
structural testing. An alternative approach is the determination
of stresscrack width relationship by adopting non-linear frac-
ture mechanics principles (Vandewalle and RILEM TC
162-TDF, 2002).
However, a combination of structural testing and calibrated
FEA is more compatible with current structural codes (such as
BS EN 1990:2002 (BSI, 2002) and fib model code 2010) and
can be used to form the basis of a tunnel lining design pro-
vided that ductility and multi-cracking is ensured. Design
assisted by testing is an approach covered by BS EN
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Estimating crack widths in steel
fibre-reinforced concrete
Hover, Psomas and Eddie
1990:2002 (BSI, 2002), and supports the use of experimental
data to justify the use of novel techniques in construction. This
paper presents part of a testing procedure using particle image
velocimetry (PIV) and four-point flexural tests on concrete and
SFRC beams.
These tests supported part of the design for the lining of
Londons Lee Tunnel (72 m internal diameter, 300 mm thick
secondary tunnel lining), for which a 015 mm crack width
limit was specified for durability by the designer. The details of
this design are expected to be published in due course, and
were discussed at the British Tunnelling Society Conference
and Exhibition 2014. The aim of this test series was to predict
crack widths in full-depth specimens (300 mm) based on the
average and worst-case strains that are expected to occur along
the tunnel.
2. PIV
PIV is an image processing technique that uses software to
track displacements on or inside a moving body (Adrian and
Westerweel, 2011; Take, 2015). Originally developed to
measure displacements and calculate flow velocities in the field
of fluid mechanics, it has since been adapted for studying a
wide range of geotechnical engineering applications, including
displacements around piles (Ni et al., 2010) and helical screw
piles (Stanier et al., 2013), tube sampling disturbance (Hover
et al., 2013), tunnelling-induced ground movements (Ahmed
and Iskander, 2011), soil deformation (White et al., 2003) and
tensile cracking in clay (Thusyanthan et al., 2007). In recent
years, PIV has also been applied to strain measurement
(Dutton et al., 2013; Hoult et al., 2013).
PIV works by analysing photographs taken during a test and
deriving displacements or velocities by recognising the move-
ment of small patches of texture.
In a traditional PIV set-up, particles are added to the transpar-
ent fluid or material (Iskander, 2010) to produce a scattering of
light, as a single plane within the fluid is illuminated by means
of laser and photographed using a digital camera. White light
sources can also be used to study displacements on the surface
of a non-transparent body (White et al., 2003) or on a single
plane within a transparent solid material (Hover et al., 2013).
Digital photographs are captured at a frame rate adapted to
the rate of displacement observed in the test, from < 1 to thou-
sands of frames per second, depending on the application.
The initial photograph is divided into a grid of interrogation
areas (IAs)/subsets. The changing locations of these small
squares of texture over the series of images taken during the
test are tracked to sub-pixel accuracy by the PIV software, to
 Construction Materials
produce displacement vectors that can be used to derive crack
widths and strains.
The accuracy of PIV depends on the set-up and on the experi-
ence of the user. The software itself can be a source of errors
and the analysis parameters must be carefully chosen to ensure
that the results reflect the observed displacements. The factors
influencing the choice of these parameters are discussed in
White and Take (2002). Other critical factors in this set-up
include
& camera resolution
& size of area under consideration
& lighting
& orthogonality between the camera and the beam.
The first two elements control the detail recorded in the photo-
graph; a combination of high resolution and small area size
is beneficial to high accuracy. Poor lighting and non-
orthogonality reduce accuracy by increasing the amount of
noise or by producing optical distortions.
3. Methodology
One unreinforced concrete and three SFRC 960
300

5400 mm3 (b
h
L) beams were manufactured for the
purpose of four-point flexural beam testing. The beams were
made of a C40/50 concrete mix with 380 kg/m3 of cement and
40 kg/m3 of fibres (Bekaert 5D-65/60BG used for the first
time in tunnel linings) added for the SFRC specimens. The
FBG array
Restraint frame
LVDT
Hydraulic ram
Figure 1. Full-scale performance-based test arrangement
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Estimating crack widths in steel
fibre-reinforced concrete
Hover, Psomas and Eddie
effectiveness of the fibres in providing crack bridging can result
in different failure modes and therefore different types were
tested. The fibre type (aspect ratio 65, yield strength 2300
MPa) and content were chosen through previous three-point
flexural notched beam tests (to EN 14651 (CEN, 2005)), to
determine the SFRC mix that exhibited the best deflection-
hardening behaviour.
These were tested at 28 d by applying four hydraulic jacks
arranged in pairs under the beam, spaced at 1645 mm centres.
The top of the beam was restrained at 200 mm from either
end; however, this condition was only effective once a certain
amount of load was applied and the beam was held in place
between the jacks and the supports. Six linear variable differ-
ential transformers (LVDTs) were installed under the beam,
and ten fibre optic Bragg grating (FBG) strain gauges were
fixed to its tensile surface, as illustrated in Figure 1. Under this
loading arrangement, the portion of the beam between the
hydraulic jacks experiences a near-uniform bending moment.
A remotely controlled 20 MP resolution camera (Canon EOS
6D) was positioned orthogonally to the beam at a distance of
2500 mm, so that the portion of the beam between the applied
loads occupied the entire field of view.
To ensure that the cameras axis was orthogonal to the beam,
a check was carried out using a perspex cylinder placed
against the side of the beam at the centre of the desired field of
view. The position and angle of the camera were adjusted until
Camera
PIV target array
PIV camera
Time and load display
Hydraulic power pack
 Construction Materials
the two crosses in the centre of the discs at either end of the
cylinder were aligned. The cylinder was thereafter removed.
A ruler was placed against the surface of the beam and photo-
graphed prior to the test to allow a conversion between the
pixel and millimetre size at a later stage.
A second remotely controlled camera (Pentax K-r, 122 MP)
was fixed above the set-up to record the crack development on
the top surface of the beam, but was not intended to be used
for the PIV analysis. Clocks were placed so as to be visible
during the test by both cameras.
Some 1400 photographs were taken during each beam test.
The frame rate was increased partway through the test, from 1
frame per second (until 80% of the ultimate load observed in
the concrete beam test) to 3 thereafter.
The beams were prepared prior to testing to facilitate the analy-
sis procedure. During PIV analysis, the side surface of the
beam would be divided into a grid of IAs by the software, each
of which would be tracked over the series of photographs to
determine its location. For this to be performed accurately, the
texture in each IA needed to be unique, have high contrast and
be easily recognisable by the software therefore plain concrete
would not be effective. An irregular pattern was created on the
side of the beam by adding circular and triangular ink marks
spaced at 10 mm centres. To increase the accuracy, additional
texture was added by dotting the surface using marker pens so
that at least four spots appeared between each set of four orig-
inal markings. This increased the variation in pattern over the
length of the beam so that no two IAs were identical.
Figure 2 shows the beam with the two types of IA grids used
for the analysis, overlain on the photograph for illustrative pur-
poses only: the left-hand side shows two columns of IAs sur-
rounding an individual crack, while the size and location of
half of the IAs used for overall strain calculations are shown
on the right-hand side of the beam.
Figure 2. Examples of IAs used for PIV analysis
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Estimating crack widths in steel
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Hover, Psomas and Eddie
4. Analysis
4.1 Accuracy of PIV
The accuracy of the PIV in this set-up was quantified by
means of a simple test. The initial photograph taken for each
test series was copied, and the first 36 pixels on the left of the
photograph were cropped, making it appear that all elements
in the image had been shifted 36 pixels to the left. A PIV
analysis was run between the original and modified images,
and the difference between the calculated and real displace-
ments were compared for 1000 IAs. The average absolute error
for each IA size is given in Figure 3. It can be seen that as
the IA size increases, errors reduce. An IA size of 96 pixels
corresponding to a physical size of 30 mm was adopted as a
compromise between accuracy and vector density. An average
error of 06 m (0002 pixels) could be expected for purely
translational displacements, for the PIV parameters used
during the analysis.
During tests, small apparent movements (02 pixels) can be
caused by camera shake, a phenomenon caused by the shutter
mechanism of the camera. Where displacements are being
measured, a correction must be applied using image regis-
tration (described in Ni et al., 2010). For derived quantities,
such as crack widths and strains, this is not necessary provided
that no rotation of the camera has occurred.
4.2 Longitudinal strain
Both the crack width and the overall strains were derived from
the displacement data generated using the PIV software,
GeoPIV (White and Take, 2002). The longitudinal strain was
calculated for elements at varying vertical offsets from the
beams top surface between 15 and 252 mm, using a 9
54 IA
mesh (Figure 2) and Equation 1a.
Four loading stages were analysed pre-crack, as were the five
first cracks for the SFRC beams. Small but non-negligible
decreases in dimensions were observed between photographs of
the test in the elastic range, in the order of 08 pixels/02 mm.
 Construction Materials Estimating crack widths in steel
fibre-reinforced concrete
Hover, Psomas and Eddie

Average absolute error:

25
20
15
m

10
05
00
20 40 60 80 100 120 140
IA size: pixels

Figure 3. Average absolute error measured for varying IA size

These resulted from out-of-plane movements caused by the nth depth increment; Sna,c1 is the spacing between two
beam moving away from the camera, due to insufficient elements on the neutral axis at first crack; and Sna,i is the
restraint, up until 75100 kN loading. spacing between two elements on the neutral axis at current
load stage.
To account for these movements prior to the first crack,
the length of the neutral axis was calculated from PIV data at
its known location at half the height of the section. This was 4.3 Crack width
done at each load stage, and the strain was calculated in The locations of the cracks were identified by visual
relation to this value. After the first crack, the position and inspection of the photographs in both the plan and side
length of the neutral axis are unknown, but the apparent length views, and a mesh comprising two columns of IAs was
of the neutral axis immediately after the first crack was created to surround each individual crack. The spacing
assumed to remain constant until the end of testing due to the between the columns was tailored so as to enclose the crack
higher amount of restraint (i.e. no further movement of the over its entire depth (Figure 4), since it rarely propagated per-
beam away from the fixed camera due to the beam being tight fectly vertical. The PIV analysis for measuring crack widths
against the restraints). Equation 1a can be modified to incorporated some 250 photographs per run. The crack width
Equation 1b to calculate the average strain at each depth after (wn) at any depth n was calculated using Equation 2 so as to
the first crack exclude the elastic strain at first crack from the spacing
PSn PSna;i measurement

1a: y;i;n % 100
PSna;i q 9
wn xn 2 yn 2  So 1 y = Before first crack
2: q
wn xn 2 yn 2  So 1 y;c1 ; After first crack
PSn P
 Sna;c1
1b: y;i;n % 100
PSna;c1
with

where y,i,n is the longitudinal strain at the ith load stage, at xn So x2;n  x1;n
depth n; Sn is the PIV measured spacing between IAs at the

Crack

y2,n Initial position

y1,n x1,n x2,n

Position at t = n
IA 1 IA 2
Original IA spacing, So

Figure 4. Using IAs to measure crack widths

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 Construction Materials
yn y2;n  y1;n
where So is the original PIV measured spacing between IAs; y
is the longitudinal strain at the ith load stage, at depth n; and
y,c1 is the longitudinal strain at first crack.
5. Results
5.1 Longitudinal strains
The load on the beams was steadily increased at an approxi-
mate rate of 040 kN/s, and the tests lasted for about 10 min.
The unreinforced concrete beam (C-1) failed suddenly at
around 100 kN with a single crack developing near instan-
taneously midway between the hydraulic jacks. The three fibre-
reinforced beam tests (from SFRC-1 to SFRC-3) showed con-
sistent results: the load at first crack was increased from
100 kN to an average of 1236 kN, which was reached after
~ 5 min, and a progressive failure developed thereafter
(Figure 5, with cracks highlighted for clarity and numbered in
the order they were analysed using PIV, not in the order they
initiated).
Multiple cracks developed in all SFRC beams, and are evident
from the successive sudden drops in load shown in Figure 6,
where deflection hardening behaviour can also be observed.
Six cracks developed in SFRC-1, while nine and ten cracks
developed in SFRC-2 and SFRC-3, respectively. No discernible
1 6
8 6 5 4 3 2
7
Figure 5. End of test cracks in the section of the beam under
uniform bending (plan view)
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Estimating crack widths in steel
fibre-reinforced concrete
Hover, Psomas and Eddie
pattern of cracking was observed, most probably due to the
sensitivity of the test to factors such as loading rates and
loading geometry.
The strain was calculated for each test at nine depths, using
Equations 1a and 1b. A linear trendline for each load stage
allowed the data to be extrapolated to the surface of the beam.
The migration of the neutral axis and the corresponding
increase in the area of the tensile zone are visible in Figure 7.
The corresponding values for all tests are presented in Table 1.
The stressstrain behaviours of the four tests are plotted in
Figure 8, where it can be observed that the addition of steel
fibres had no discernible effect on Youngs modulus of the con-
crete, while strain hardening is seen to occur after first crack.
5.2 Flexural and direct tensile strengths
The flexural strength of the concrete at first crack ( fct,fl ) was cal-
culated using Equation 3, based on the bending moment (M)
calculated for the beam under self-weight at the average first
crack load. The average surface flexural tensile strain values for
each test, determined by PIV analysis, are given in Table 2
M
3: fct;fl 6

bh2
The elastic moduli of the materials were calculated using
Equation 4. The initial elastic modulus (Ei) was determined
from test C-1 and the mean secant elastic modulus (Es) was
5 4 3 2 1
1 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
10
 Construction Materials Estimating crack widths in steel
fibre-reinforced concrete
Hover, Psomas and Eddie

160
140
120
100
Load: kN

80 C-1

60 SFRC-1

40 SFRC-2

20 SFRC-3

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Deflection: mm

Figure 6. Development of load in concrete and SFRC beams

(LVDT data)

Strain: %
004 002 0 002 004 006 008 01 012 014 016
00

500
2525 kN
1000 5008 kN
Depth: mm

7376 kN
1500 10008 kN
First crack
2000 Second crack
Third crack

2500 Fourth crack

Fifth crack

Figure 7. Development of strains in test SFRC-1 (PIV analysis)

Load stage
Surface strain:
Test 25 kN 50 kN 75 kN 100 kN First crack Second crack Third crack Fourth crack Fifth crack

C-1 36 78 97 116
SFRC-1 33 62 84 125 173 330 626 1030 1438
SFRC-2 37 58 68 100 199 237 354 578 815
SFRC-3 27 25 42 73 149 178 365 599 997

Table 1. PIV strains for all beam tests

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 Construction Materials Estimating crack widths in steel
fibre-reinforced concrete
Hover, Psomas and Eddie

160

140

120

100
Force: kN

80 C-1

60 SFRC-1
40 SFRC-2
20
SFRC-3
0
000 005 010 015
Strain: %

Figure 8. Forcestrain behaviour from beam test results (PIV

analysis)

Bending moment Max flexural strength Flexural tensile Elastic

Number of Load at first at loading points at at first crack, strain at surface, modulus,
Test cracks crack: kN first crack, M: kN m fct,fl: MPa y,c1: % E: GPa

C-1 1 995 6198 430 00116 37 (Ei)

SFRC-1 6 1228 8237 572 00173 33 (Es)
SFRC-2 9 1237 8229 571 00198 29 (Es)
SFRC-3 10 1243 8279 575 00149 39 (Es)
Average (SFRC) 8 1236 8248 573 00173 33 (Es)

Table 2. Stress and strain results at first crack

derived from the average values of the SFRC tests 6: fctk fctm
1  kn
VX

fct;fl
4: E
y
fctk
7: fctd ct;pl

c
The flexural strength is linked to the direct tensile strength ( fct)
through Equation 5 (Fib, 2013). For a specified minimum
where fctk is the characteristic tensile strength; fctm is the mean
lining thickness of 300 mm, this ratio is 076. The procedure
tensile strength; fctd is the design tensile strength; kn is the
for obtaining the characteristic and design values from mean
characteristic fractile factor, specified in Table D1 of BS EN
test results is outlined in BS EN 1990:2002, Annex D (BSI,
1990:2002 (BSI, 2002); VX is the coefficient of variation of
2002). The characteristic and design values are derived using
data set X; ct,pl is the coefficient taking into account the long-
Equations 6 and 7
term effects of the tensile strength for plain or lightly
reinforced concrete (BS EN 1992-1-1:2004, 12.3.1(2) (BSI,
fct 0  06
h07 2004a, 2004b), recommended value in UK National Annex);
5:
fct;fl 1 0  06
h07 and c is the safety factor for concrete (to BS EN 1990:2002
(BSI, 2002)).

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 Construction Materials Estimating crack widths in steel
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Ratio c ct VX kn fctm,fl: MPa fctm: MPa fctk: MPa fctd: MPa

Mean 076 100 573 435

Serviceability Limit State 076 100 080 01 189 573 435 353 28
Ultimate Limit State 076 150 080 01 189 573 435 353 19

Table 3. Mean, characteristic and design concrete strengths

For an unknown coefficient of variability, Eurocode 0 states
that it is often preferable to assume a conservative upper
estimate of VX (but no < 10%) and to use the VX known
parameters for kn. Using this approach, the calculated
design tensile strengths are summarised in Table 3. A value
of 01 for VX is considered conservative from previous
experience.
5.3 Average strains
A number of FBG gauges measured the increase in elastic
strain along the uncracked sections of the beam. The strain
increased to a maximum, then fell at first crack. The average
post-crack strain was comparable to that determined by PIV
analysis (Table 4).
5.4 Crack widths
The PIV analysis measured the development of all single
cracks within the field of view over time (Figure 9). Where two
cracks reached the edge of the beam within < 50 mm, or where
a single crack separated into two at the edge, it was not poss-
ible to calculate the individual contribution of each. Tests
SFRC-2 and SFRC-3 showed similar cracking behaviours, but
in test SFRC-1, crack 3 (midway between the hydraulic jacks)
dominated the behaviour through a propagation of smaller
cracks (Figure 5), the individual contributions of which cannot
be derived. In this test, the difference in deflection between the
supports and the midbeam was lower than for the other tests
until first crack, after which it reached double the differential
settlement of the others, suggesting that the fibre content or
distribution in this beam was different from that in the two
others.
The strain gauges installed on the tensile surface of the
beam in the SFRC tests captured the formation of approxi-
mately half of the cracks at the centreline of the tensile face.
Only two cracks per test were directly comparable to those
studied using PIV due to issues such as failure of the FBGs at
high levels of strain, insufficient monitoring times of later
cracks and cracks being missed by the sensors. The strains
were measured to a high degree of accuracy but the system
was not able to isolate each cracks individual contribution to
the strain, where the gauge was affected by two or more
cracks.

The crack widths were calculated from the strain data using
Equation 8. This represents an upper bound estimation of
Test
crack widths: the elastic strain is taken as the maximum
SFRC-1 SFRC-2 SFRC-3 measured by the gauges not overlying cracks, which is expected
(
104) to be lower than that in the vicinity of the crack. The develop-
y, max y, c1 y, max y, c1 y, max y, c1 ment of cracks using both the FBG and PIV methods are pre-
sented in Figure 10. It can be seen that both methods identify
Sensor 1 216 201 197 185 171 148
the beginning of the crack development at the same time, but
Sensor 2 164 141 181 150 197 152
the measured crack widths differ
Sensor 3 225 115 140 132 178 161
Sensor 4 197 133 189 171
8: w g  y;el
lg
Sensor 5 226 207 151 132
Sensor 6 169
Average 200 159 171 154 182 154 where w is the crack width on the surface of the beam; g is the
Average 173 198 145 strain measured by FBG; y,el is the elastic strain measured
measured prior to crack; and lg is the length of fibre optics.
by PIV
It is worth noting that crack 3 in test SFRC-2 is in fact a com-
Table 4. Maximum and post-crack elastic strains measured by bination of two cracks, 3 and 4, which begin opening at differ-
FBGs ent times. Individual contributions to the overall width cannot
be ascertained.

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 Construction Materials Estimating crack widths in steel
fibre-reinforced concrete
Hover, Psomas and Eddie

35 SFRC-1 SFRC-2 SFRC-3

25
Crack width: mm

15

05

05
Time

Figure 9. PIV measurements of crack development in SFRC

beams

08
SFRC-1, crack 2 (PIV) SFRC-2, crack 3 and 4 (PIV) SFRC-3, crack 5 (PIV)
07 SFRC-1, crack 5 (PIV) SFRC-2, crack 5 (PIV) SFRC-3, crack 7 (PIV)
SFRC-1, crack 2 (FBG) SFRC-2, crack 3 and 4 (FBG) SFRC-3, crack 5 (FBG)
06
SFRC-1, crack 5 (FBG) SFRC-2, crack 5 (FBG) SFRC-3, crack 7 (FBG)

05
Crack width: mm

04

03

02

01

01

Figure 10. Crack width results using FBG and PIV methods

The PIV and FBG results show little correlation with respect
to crack width and rate of crack width increase, for two main
reasons. First, the PIV analysis measures strains at the edge of
the beam, while the gauges measure on the centreline. Viewing
the set-up from above, it becomes apparent that such differ-
ences may occur since the crack typically propagates from the
centre of the beam to its side, generally not in a perfectly
straight line. A number of cracks have separated into two or
more, either at the edge, in the centre of the beam, or both.
considered traction free due to the fully pulled out nature of
the fibres. Below there exists a bridging zone, where stress is
transferred by fibre pull-out and aggregate bridging, overlying
zones of microcracking and microcrack growth (Lfgren,
2005).
Both methods, however, identify the cracks initiating at the
same time, and the relative magnitudes of the measurements
from both methods are within the expected range.

Second, the PIV analysis measures strains at a depth of 15 mm 5.5 Strain at maximum crack width
into the beam, instead of on the tensile surface, due to the size The average strain causing the limiting crack width is of
of the IAs used. The behaviour at this depth is more represen- importance, since it will determine the allowable strains in the
tative of the sections behaviour since the concrete above this is structure before the concrete can no longer be considered to be

10

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 Construction Materials
SFRC-1 SFRC-2
Strain: 214 367
Number of cracks < 015 mm 1 2
Table 5. Average strain at limiting crack width
self-healing. To identify these, the time corresponding to a
maximum crack width of 015 mm regardless of the number
of cracks developed at this point was determined from the
crack development graphs. The strain at this time was found
from the corresponding average strain to time graph, derived
from the strain data at each load stage (Table 1). These results
are included in Table 5. Tests SFRC-2 and SFRC-3 show a
similar behaviour, while SFRC-1 reaches the limiting crack
width at a lower average strain level. This discrepancy is linked
to the lower amount of differential settlement (between the
restraints and the midbeam) experienced during the test by
SFRC-1 before first crack. The others experience higher and
comparable amounts of deflection, and therefore load, since the
loaddeflection response of all three SFRC beams are similar.
6. Study limitations
As mentioned previously, the beam moved away from the
camera during testing, and the method used to correct for
this will not compensate for any additional movement after first
crack. This, however, is expected to be negligible since a good
restraint was provided when the load exceeded 75100 kN.
Second, strains are calculated at times corresponding to each
crack. This time was found by identifying the moments where
the load on the beam dropped suddenly. It was observed on
the top surface that at this moment, cracks typically initiated
at the centre and propagated towards the side of the beam,
meaning that any strains measured by PIV at these moments
would not include the newly formed crack, so the total strain
at middle breadth would be slightly underestimated, when
compared with the FBG measurements.
Third, the PIV software itself was a source of minor errors,
with a minimum average of 06 m expected for the analysis
parameters in this study. The combined error of the crack or
strain measurements would likely not exceed 20 m.
One proposed recommendation for future tests is to install
target markers strategically close to the concrete surface, both
above and below the beam, in a manner that they would
measure out-of-plane movements. An image registration pro-
cedure using a transformation type such as nonreflective simi-
larity in MATLAB could be used to modify the test
photographs before analysis. Given sufficient targets, this
Downloaded by [] on [15/02/17]. Copyright ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Estimating crack widths in steel
fibre-reinforced concrete
Hover, Psomas and Eddie
SFRC-3 should be able to remove some of the small scaling errors
caused by the beam moving relative to the camera. Another
349 option would be to use multiple cameras (3D PIV), close
3 range photogrammetry calibration methods (White et al.,
2003) or out-of-plane error reduction methods discussed in
Hoult et al. (2013).
To compare the FBG and PIV results, the same crack widths
should be measured. In future tests, FBGs should also be fixed
to the edge of the beam, on the surface.
7. Conclusions
One unreinforced and three SFRC beam tests were carried out
at the building research establishment (BRE) to assess the
effects of steel fibre reinforcement on the cracking behaviour of
beams. The strains on the surface of the beams were measured
using fibre-optic strain gauges, while PIV analyses were carried
out on the side of the beam, using digital photographs taken
during the tests.
The concrete beam failed suddenly at 100 kN, while the SFRC
beams failed by multiple cracking and an average first crack
load of 123 kN, at a much higher strain providing evidence of
increased ductility and stress redistribution.
Crack widths and strains were derived from the displacement
data generated by the PIV analysis. The strains on the tensile
surface of the SFRC beams were determined by PIV analysis
to be, on average, 00173% at first crack. Strains at limiting
crack width were around 350 , with one test reaching the
limiting width at a lower 214 .
The relevance of the PIV method is that it provides a system
that can measure small cracks and strains in concrete to a
reasonable degree of accuracy, and can be used in combination
with other, more traditional methods of strain measurement.
PIV is a non-intrusive method that can provide data across the
entire side of the beam, where other systems can produce
measurements only at specific locations.
The results presented in this paper are intended to form the
basis of a study into the cracking behaviour of SFRC tunnel
linings under loading. As in most concrete structures, the
allowable crack width tolerances for durability are extremely
tight, and this usually requires onerous traditional reinforce-
ment designs. With the use of SFRC tunnel linings, the poten-
tial cost and embodied energy savings are high, but the designs
must rely on a good understanding of the materials behaviour
under load.
Acknowledgements
The authors express their thanks to Mr Martin Rimes
(Materials Engineer for UnPS) and his team for the beam
11
 Construction Materials
casting and the small-scale testing. Thanks are also due to Mr
David Brooke (Building Research Establishment Structures
Lab Manager) for the work carried out in testing the concrete
beams, Dr Vangelis Astreinidis (CEM) for the FBG measure-
ments and analysis, Dr Qing Ni (Warwick University) for the
PIV testing and to the Thames Water Project Management
Team and the MVB JV Management for supporting the case
for large-scale testing.
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