Steel fibers for concrete reinforcement

TECHNICAL NOTE

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FIBER REINFORCED CONCRETE The idea to reinforce with resistant man-made fibrous materials but of elevated brittleness gets lost in the night of the times; in ancient Egypt straw was added to the argillaceous paste with which they manufactured bricks giving them greater bending resistance and therefore better handling after sun-baking. Other historical examples of fiber reinforcement exist: plaster reinforced with horsehair, or with straw in the poorer building trade, to avoid unaesthetic withdrawal crackss, in reinforced plaster false-ceilings, and concrete mix fiber reinforced with asbestos etc. The scientific approach to the fiber reinforcement problem is recent. The first studies on the use of steel and glass fibers in concrete go back to the 50s and in the 60s studies are found of concrete being reinforced with synthetics fibers. Even though studies and above all direct experimentation continues today, the behavior and field application of fiber reinforced concrete in relation to the base material of the fibers are now very well framed. The presence of fiber, forms, in any case, a micro reinforcement of extreme effectiveness in regards to the withdrawal crackingping phenomenon; the mechanical properties of the fibers material influences considerably its ductility. Using high resistance fibers, its possible to make concretes that even though maintaining almost unchanged their compression strength property (Rck) they present a fairly good ductility. Moreover, fibers of high mechanical resistance allow to manufacture highly tough concretes, a characteristic that make them particularly able for the realization of prefabricated manufactured products, of moderate thickness DUCTILITY: A RESOURCE IN THE STRUCTURAL FIELD Ordinary concrete in respect to tensile stress presents a rigid-elastic behaviour, that is, once a certain stress threshold (elastic limit) is reached there is an almost instantaneous fracture. Moreover its difficult to identify the tensile strength; even though its linked to the compression strength property (1/10. 1/20 Rck) it presents an excessive statistic distribution within a structural element mass. Above all in non reinforced manufactured materials, because of the withdrawal, micro cracks or even micro fractures can occur within the masses that are quite visible which inevitably compromise the ability to absorb locally the tensile stress. This is the reason why in the theory of reinforced concrete, the tensile strength of the mix is assumed equal = 0. The addition of a suitable fibrous reinforcement to the concrete, inhibiting therefore the withdrawal related phenomenon, confers to it discreet stability statistics of the tensile strength. Moreover, should a fracture be induced to a fiber reinforced manufactured material, the fibers present in the concrete mix guarantee, through a sort of seam effect (see fig. 1), the ability to absorb tensile stress

Fiber reinforcement: an ancient technique industrialized in the 60s

The presence of fibers improves the withdrawal cracking resistance and confers ductility

The inhibition of withdrawal cracking phenomena confers a better statistic stability to the tensile strength

Fig. 1 Qualitative tensile distribution in fiber reinforcement

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Macroscopically this behaviour is ductile. In fact ductility is defined as the ability of a material to adsorb a notable creeping at constant load when the same has reached the yielding point, which is an intrinsic properties of every material. Usually, because of operative difficulties, direct tensile tests are not carried out on concretes. Appraisals of tensile strength and ductility are carried out indirectly by means of bending tests. Fig. 2 illustrates the possible answers in terms of load-deflection curves; obtainable by testing prismatic concrete samples (beams) exposed to bending, with different contents of fibers reinforcement.

Ductility: the capacity to achieve significant skids at a constant load.

Fig. 2 Qualitative diagrams of load-deflection obtainable by bending tests

Into the elastic phase the addition of fiber doesnt modify the mechanical behaviour. Different behaviours can occur beyond point A, more often referred to as first crack strength point. Curve I represent the behaviour of ordinary concrete beams: being the material of a rigid-elastic type and the structure isostatic, once the first crack strength load is reached, there is an immediate collapse. Curve II outlines a much slower collapse and moreover the ability to still absorb, though light, a load after the first crack strength point. Curve III is typical of a ductile material with a constant load yielding and therefore can be used for the manufacturing of some structural elements. This material allows to resolve some engineering problematics, in some cases with low costs. The only difficulty is in the calculus approach in the project. The structural resources related to the ductility can only be taken advantage of with an elastoplastic approach.

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The checks of the acceptable tensile strength are substituted by assessments in regards to ultimate limit state load, that is, to a particular load related to the assessed structure, taking into account the ductility, depending on the degree of hyper static nature of the same. In a model of acceptable tensile strength the load that induces, in the section that is mainly stressed, a tension equal to the acceptable one, is the collapse load (in this case the collapse is conventional). The safety factor of the load referred to the real collapse is unknown; we know only the safety factor of the a.t.s. An elasto-plastic approach needs a careful study of the structure. Lets consider an isostatic beam subject to a centred load. (fig. 3)

Fig. 3 Load-deflection curves. The structural behaviourr to ductile material elements

If the element is realized with a material characterized by an appreciable ductile phase, once the elastic limit load has been reached (Pe), the structure w not ill collapse; its actually able to accept a further incremented load, with plasticity behaviour in strained area, until it reaches the load collapse point. (Pu) Its clear that once the design load has been assigned, the safety factor of the structure is equal to FS=Pu/Pe.
Influence of longitudinal geometry of fibers on the ductility of fiber reinforced mixes

The ductile effect deriving from the addition of fibers to the ordinary mixes is the macroscopic effect of mechanical actions that reciprocally swap fibers and cement matrix. In particular the pull-out modalities considerably influence the ductility results of fiber reinforced concrete. For the metallic fibers its possible to have three different types of pull-out (fig. 4).
The shaping of fibers is fundamental to the strength of fiber reinforced concrete.

The first diagram (A) contains longitudinal non-deformed and generally short fibers: once a certain load is reached we have the split of the fiber from the cement matrix and the consequent pull-out. In shaped fibers, the behaviours shown in diagrams (B) and (C) are more realistic. In the first case (B) once the splitting phase has progressively been reached, a pull-out phase follows with an acceptable friction.

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Fig.4 Pull-out tests: indicating diagrams related to the longitudinal fibers shaping

Much more effective is the behaviour in case (C): there is a first phase, OA, of perfect contact followed by a phase of progressive splitting before the pull-out. (AB) As in the FIBRARMEDI L fibres behaviour this last passage is due, to a difficult pull out obtainable with an effective shaping of the fiber. Even in this case, follows a pull out phase with an acceptable friction. Its clear that the ductility of the fiber reinforced mix strongly feel the effects of the particular fibers used. Elastic modules and breaking load of the base material of the fiber, adhesion compatibility of the fiber base material with the concrete, longitudinal geometry of the fiber (the ability of anchorage to the mix) - cross-sectional geometry of the fiber (section), amount of fiber added to the mix, arrangement and bearing of the fibers within the mix are some of the factors that influence interaction of fiber concrete mix. Even though the above listed items are important, it remains of fundamental importance the inflexibility and the elevated tensile strength of the fiber base material: steel fibers therefore are the best available product in the market for structural applications. In application, which require only the contrast of the withdrawal cracking in the first concrete setting phases, are used synthetic or natural materials, with low tensile strength. Several types of metallic fibers exist: the type of steel and therefore the cracking strength, the geometry, both longitudinal or cross-sectional, the production processes are some of the properties that differentiate the various market products. Influence of cross-sectional geometry of fibers on ductility of fiber reinforced mixes The geometry of a longitudinal (outline) or cross-sectional (section) fiber is a property of fundamental importance when fibers in high resistance materials are used.

thanks to the elevated elastic modules and breaking load, steel is the best solution for fiber reinforcement

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The following analytical considerations turn out are more clear: by indicating Lc as the critical length of a fiber, or the the minimal length necessary to displays simultaneously its (pull-out) and breaking, the equilibrium is:

D 2 4

L r = (D ) l c 2

where r = tensile strength l = concrete steel frictional strength D = diameter of the fiber, for non-circular sections meaning an equivalent diameter. By indicating with L the length of a fiber and working out the above formula we can obtain the following

L r D 2 l
The ratio L/D is technically indicated as Aspect ratio For unshaped round fibers (linear) we usually have l=2MPa; if the cracking stress is 1200 Mpa follows L/D300, that is the excessive slenderness. An effective shape allows us to use, in the above written formulas, an equivalent value of l major and therefore to use fibers with a ratio aspect much more contained. The equivalent value of l l also depends on the shape of the cross-sectional section. The pull-out of a fiber is due to the lost of adhesion between concrete and steel. Consider for example two fibers (fig.5) one of circular section and the other of rectangular one. Its known that when a steel sample is subject to an axial traction strain it endures a lengthening in the direction of the stress with a subsequent contraction in the orthogonal planes. Fig. 5 shows in an extreme form, the contractions of two types of fiber. The structural implications are considerable. In case of circular section fiber as the contraction increases a loss of adhesion is reached simultaneously on the entire perimeter. In case of rectangular section fibers the loss occurs quite quickly on the shorter sides. Such circumstance is expressed in an instant transfer (jerk effect) of load to the long sides and therefore a pull-out before having reached the ultimate resistance. The circular section, thanks to the symmetry, is the one that is able to maximize the use of adhesion to the concrete mix.

The circular section improves the fiber-concrete adhesion

Fig. 5 Lateral contractions of fibers of different geometrical sections

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Dosage and ductility Its already been said that the presence of fiber in the matrix of a mix, produces a macroscopic ductile behaviour. Its obvious that whichever is the nature of the fibers, such result is given by the mechanical action that microscopically takes place between the fibers and the mix. Its therefore obvious that the ductility of fiber reinforced concretes, depends not only on the properties of the intrinsic fiber, but also on the actual quantity that has been introduced in the mix. Fig. 6 qualitatively shows how the amount of fiber used contributes to the ductility.

Fig. 6 Ductility increasing with addition of fiber (dosage) The course of the diagram can be divided in three sections. The first one shows an almost null contribution. As a matter of fact by dispersing a few fibers in the mix, their distance doesnt allow any interaction; no behavioural alteration, to the fiber reinforced concrete, will therefore be noticed. By increasing the number of fiber in the mix, or rather reducing the dimensions of the volume of influence of each fiber, layouts of acceptable fiber static overlay (second section), and therefore the possibility of mutual interaction are reached macroscopical results: ductile crack. In such section, even small fluctuations to the dosage will produce substantial ductility changes. Finally, over a certain quantity, the ever-increasing contribution turns out to be insignificant. Besides, high quantities can produce mixing difficulties and therefore the need to adopt ad hoc devices that are not always harmless in regards to the final strength of the mix.

The dosage of fibers influences the ductility increment, over a certain limit it turns out to be insignificant but can sometimes produce mixing difficulties.

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Fields of employment of fiber reinforced concrete The employment of fiber reinforced concrete is constantly increasing. Besides the consolidated applications there are several studies under way on new employment possibilities of fiber reinforced concrete, especially for metal fibers, which are the only ones capable of structural interaction with the cement matrix. Studies and researches are under way to show how such micro-reinforcements, combined with traditional reinforcement, allow to improve the behaviour of some building materials, in static but most of all in dynamic fields in regards to bending, torsion and shear stress. Another research trend of extreme interest is that of high strength concretes (Rck>120Mpa). One of the problems that high strength concrete presents is the elevated brittleness and therefore the necessity to adopt rather high coefficients of safety, achieving excessive weakening of the maximum admitted stress. This is the reason why is necessary to study various measures that are able to give such cements ductility and so reducing the coefficients of safety. A possible solution could be the addition of steel fibers, information is not yet available as studies and tests are still under way. Currently we use fibrous reinforcements, besides particular structural applications, in the in-plant manufacturing (prefabrication) of thin finishing elements. Thin elements (Sheet type) For thin bidimensional elements a traditional reinforcement with a welded mesh usually seems to be ineffective. The limited arm of the inner brace becomes, most of the times, an inefficient module of strength. Furthermore, the reduction of the section close to the reinforcements leads to a widespread withdrawal cracking during the drying process. A fibrous reinforcement, particularly a metallic one, allows not only to avoid the withdrawal related phenomena but also to reach the minimum bending strength requirements. Concave Elements (Shell type) For very thin and curved elements, be they of single or double curvature, a certain strength in the wet mix is usually required, its usually obtained by using large quantities of fibers (5% in volume). Because of economic and technical reasons (mixing difficulties) non-metallic fibers (glass or synthetic fibers of various nature) are used in these applications Structural applications Metallic fibers are the ones mainly used in structural fields. The ductility given by the fibers to the concrete, allows the replacement of the ( welded mesh ) traditional reinforement. Such replacement allows, besides economic issues, the convenience to face with greater efficiency and security some problems of geotechnical nature. One of the main examples of metallic fibers applications is the pre-lining with sprayed concrete of centred tunnels.

The traditional procedure sees the insertion of welded mesh between two centerings and subsequently the spraying of concrete. Once the spraying has been completed the mesh should be approximately in the center of the thickness and be able in this way to react, even though with an halved inner couple brace, both in positive and negative moments. In reality its extremely difficult to arrange the meshes correctly between the centerings and moreover in some cases because of the peculiarity of the rocks its necessary to spray the concrete immediately after excavation. The use of steel fiber reinforced concrete, completely compatible with the spraying pumps, allows us to face the problem

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Another field of Civil Engineering where structural purpose fibers are widely used is hard paving one (airports, roads, industrial pavements). Heavy and above all static loads in bituminous mixes, could lead to unacceptable stress; that is why we use steel fiber reinforced concrete slabs. Such structural elements, usually of wide surface, present emphasized withdrawal phenomena, the use of metallic fibers highly reduces this phenomena, eliminating the risk of cracks. By choosing or dosing the fibrous reinforcement properly its possible to substitute the slow traditional reinforcement with economic and operational advantages. Steel fibers are widely used in repairs and maintenance fields. A thin layer of fiber reinforced concrete usually presents an even stronger toughness than a thicker one realized with the same mix. In fact if the length of the fiber is more than the thickness of the layer we have, during the spraying and the trimming, a positioning (trend) of the fibers in the same level of the layer. Cracks spreading in such layer is slowed down and, for dynamic loads, it has to be repeated over and over again. The suitability of this material in repairs to tanks, dams, caisson rafters, bridge slabs and mine or tunnel linings are therefore more than clear. Durability The durability issue in steel fiber reinforced concrete has been subject of many studies. Attention was given most of all to the corrosion of the fibers and in particular to the ones in proximity of the surface. In fact since the fibers already have a rather restrained diameter, a possible reduction due to corrosion would considerably reduce the strength of the fibers and therefore the properties of the concrete. Studies and tests have highlighted the excellent behaviour in time of steel fiber reinforced concrete even in particularly harsh environments such as marine ones or in difficult conditions such as freeze-thaw. In studies regarding fiber reinforced concretes behavioural changes due to corrosion of the fibers, it has emerged that a moderate degree of corrosion, increasing for grime effect the pull out strength of the fibers, is not always transformed in loss of mechanical propertiess o the concrete. As of today it f openly appears that steel fiber reinforced concrete thanks to a more compact and micro-crack free structure have in time, a much more stable behaviour.

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REFERENCES

Romualdi, I. P. & Batson, G.B., Mechanics of crack arrest in concrete. ASCE, J. Eng. Mech. Div., 89 (1963) 147-68 Romualdi, J.P. & Mandel, J.A., Tensile strength of concrete affected by uniformly distributed closely spaced short lengths of wire reinforcement. J. American Concrete Institute, 61 (1964) 657-71. Shah,S.P. & Rangan, V.B., Fiber reinforced concrete properties. J.American Concrete Institute, 68 (1971) 126-35. Mangat, P.S. & Azari, M.M., Theory of free shrinkage of steel fiber reinforced cement mortars. J.Materials Science, 14 (1984) 2103-94 Morgan, D.R. & Mowat, D.N., A comparative evaluation of plain mesh and steel fiber reinforced shotcrete. In Fiber Reinforced Concrete - International Symposium, ACI SP-81, American Concrete Institute, Detroit, 1984, pp. 307-24. Haynes, H., Investigation of fiber reinforcement methods for thin shell concrete, Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory Port Hueneme, CA, N-979 Sept. 1968, pp.1-26 Yamamoto, Y. & Hayakawa, M., Effects of mixing method on the properties of steel fiber reinforced concrete. Transactions of the Japan Concrete Institute, 6 (1984)103-10 Potrebowski, J., The splitting test applied to steel fiber reinforced concrete. Int. J., The Cement Composites and Lightweight Concrete, 5 (1983) 49-53. Knoblauch, H., Manufacture and properties of steel fiber reinforced concrete and mortar with increasing fiber content, Part 2. Betonwerk und Fertigteil- Technique, 11 (1979) 683-91 Maage, M., Fiber bond and friction in cement and concrete. In Testing and Test Methods of Fiber Cement Composites, ed. R.N. Swamy. The Construction Press Ltd. Lancaster, 1978, pp. 329-36 Johnston, C.D., Steel fiber reinforced mortar and concrete: A review of mechanical properties. In fiber Reinforced Concrete, ACI SP-44, American Concrete Institute, Detroit 1974, pp. 195-207 Mangat, P.S. & Azari, M.M., Influence of steel fiber reinforcement on the fracture behaviour of concrete in compression. Int. J. Cement Composites and Lightweight Concrete, 6 (1984) 219-32 Mangat, P.S. & Azari, M.M., Influence of steel fiber and Stirrup reinforcement on the properties of concrete in compression members. Int. J. Cement Composites and Lightweight Concrete, 7 (1985) 183-92 Shah, S.P., Complete stress-strain curves for steel fiber reinforced concrete in uniaxial tension and compression. In Testing and Test Methods of Fiber Cement Composites, ed. R.N. Swamy. RILEM Symposium, Construction Press Ltd. Lancaster, 1978, pp. 399-408 Visalvanich, K. & Naaman, A.E., Fracture model for fiber reinforced concrete J. American Concrete Institute, 80 (1985) 128 - 38 Hannant D.J., Fiber Cements and Fiber Concretes, John Wiley and Sons Ltd, Chichester, 1978, 219 pp. Narayanan, R. & Toorani-Goloosalar, Z., Fiber reinforced concrete in pure torsion and in combined bending and torsion. Proceedings, Institution of Civil Engineers, London, Part 2, 67 (1979) 987-1001 Schrader, E.K. & Munch, A.V., Fibrous concrete repair of cavitation damage. ASCE Journal of the Construction Divisio, 102 (1976) 385-99 Swamy, R.N. & Stavrides, H., Influence of fiber reinforcement in restrained shrinkage and cracking. J. Materials Science, 19 (1984) 2183-94 Shah, S.P., Concrete and fiber reinforced concrete subjected to impact loading. In Cement -based Composites: Strain Rate Effects on Fracture, ed. S. Mindess & S.P. Shah. Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, Vol. 64, Materials Research Society, Pittsburgh (1986) 181-202 Naaman, A.E., Fiber reinforced concrete under dynamic loading. In Fiber Reinforced Concrete - International Symposium, ACI SP-81, American Concrete Institute, Detroit, 1984, pp. 169-86 Craig, R.J., Decker, J., Dombrowski, L. Jr, Laurencelle, R. & Federovich J., Anelastic behaviour of reinforced fibrous concrete. J. Structural Engineering, ASCE, 113 (1978)802-17. Swamy, R.N. & Al -Taan, S.A., Deformation and ultimate strength in flexure of reinforced concrete beams made with steel fiber concrete. J. American Concrete Institute, 78 (1981) 395-405 Shamy, R.N. & Bahia, H.M., The effectiveness of steel fibres as shear reinforcement. Concrete International: Design and Construction, 7 (1985) 35-40 Limit T.Y., Paramasivam, P. & Lee, S.L., Shear and moment capacities of reinforced steel-fiber-concrete beams. Magazine of Concrete Research, 39 (1987) 148-60 Sharma, A.K., Shear strength of steel fiber reinforced concrete beams.J.American Concrete Institute, 83 (1986)624-8 Hoff, G.C., Durability of fiber reinforced concrete in a severe marine environment. In Katharine and Bryant Mather International Symposium on Concrete Durability, ACI SP-100, Vol. I, American Concrete Institute, Detroit, 1987, pp. 997-1041 Aufmuth, R.E. , Naus, D.J. & Williamson, G.R., Effect of aggressive environments on steel fiber reinforced concrete. Letter Report M-113, US Army Corps of Engineers, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, Champaign, Illinois, 1974

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Hannant, D.J. & Edgington, J., Durability of steel fiber concrete. In Fiber Reinforced Cement and Concrete, Proceedings, RILEM Symposium, The Construction Press, UK 1975, pp. 159-69 Mangat, P.S. & Gurusamy, K., Steel fiber reinforced concrete for marine applications. In Proceedings 4th International Conference on Behaviour of Offshore Structures, Delft, Elsevier Science Publishers 1985, pp. 867-79 Rider, R. & Heidersbach, R., Degradation of metal-fiber-reinforced concrete exposed to a marine environment. In Corrosion of Reinforcing Steel in concrete, ed. D.E. Tonini & J.M.Gaidis. ASTM STP 713, American Society for Testing and Materials, 1980, pp. 75-92 Banthia, N. & Foy, C., Marine curing of steel fiber composites. J.Materials in Civil Engineering. ASCE 1 (1989)86-96 Halvorsen, G.T. Kesler, C.E. Robinson, A.R. & Stout, J.A., Durability and physical properties of steel fiber reinforced concrete. Report No. DOT-TST 76T-21, US Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Washington, DC, 1976, 73 pp. Hannant, D.J., Additional data on fiber corrosion in cracked beams and theoretical treatment of the effect of fiber corrosion on beam load capacity. In fiber Reinforced Cement and Concrete, Proceedings RILEM Symposium, The Construction Press, UK 1975, pp. 533-8 Mangat, P.S. & Gurusamy, K., Corrosion resistance of steel fibres in concrete under marine exposure. Cement and Concrete Research, 18 (1988) 44-54 Kosa, K. & Naaman, A.E., Corrosion of steel fiber reinforced concrete. ACI Matrials J. (in press). G. A. Plizzari, S. Cangiano, and N. Cere - Postpeak Behavior of Fiber-Reinforced Concrete under Cyclic Tensile Loads ACI Materials Journal/March-April 2000; M. Di Prisco, F. Iorio, G. A. Plizzari - High Performance Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete prestressed roof elements Bochum 2003; G. A. Plizzari, S. Cangiano, R. Cucitore - A new proposal for a standard test method on fibre reinforced concrete International Workshop on Structural applications of steel fibre reinforced concrete - Milano 2000; G. A. Plizzari, A. Meda - A new design approach for SFRC slabs on grade based on fracture mechanics ACI Structural Journal Accepted paper; G. A. Plizzari, A. Meda, B. Belletti, R. Cerioni - Experimental and numerical analyses of SFRC slabs on grade Sixth RILEM Symposium on FRC - BEFIB 2004; G. A. Plizzari, A. Meda, L. Sorelli, B. Rossi - Experimental investigations on slabs on grade: steel fibers vs. conventional reinforcement Sixth RILEM Symposium on FRC - BEFIB 2004; G. A. Plizzari, A. Meda, L. Sorelli, B. Rossi - Fracture mechanics for SFRC Pavement - FIB-CEB Symposium Avignon 2004; B. Belletti, R. Cerioni, G. A. Plizzari - Fracture in SFRC slabs on grade Sixth RILEM Symposium on FRC BEFIB 2004; G. A. Plizzari, L. Cominoli, G. Perri, R. Perri - Revestimientos de tneles en concreto reforzado con fibras metlicas - XVIII Seminario Venezolano de Geotecnia Caracas 2004

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