Investigation on crack extension resistance curve of aligned steel fiber‐reinforced cement‐based composites

Abstract

In this study, an analytical method was proposed to predict the crack extension resistance curve (KR curve) of aligned steel fiber‐reinforced cement‐based composites (ASFRC). The three‐point bending tests were carried out on notched ASFRC specimens. Based on the predicted results, the influence of size effect and fiber dosage on KR curves of ASFRC specimens was discussed. Finally, the relationship between KR curves of ASFRC and steel fiber‐reinforced cement‐based composite (SFRC) specimens was investigated. The results show that the analytical results agree well with the experimental ones. The KR curve of ASFRC specimen has size effect and increases with fiber dosage. The ASFRC specimen shows a 30% improvement in the crack extension resistance at peak load over the SFRC specimen when the fiber volume dosage is 0.8%, and the improvement becomes more pronounced with increasing fiber dosage. When the KR curves of ASFRC and SFRC specimens are the same, the fiber consumption can be reduced by at least 40%.