On the Strength of Concrete Reinforced with Discontinuous Steel Fibres : 1st Report : Pull-Out Behavior

Abstract

The utilization of concrete for offshore structures gives an advantage of low maintenance cost and excellent durability. However, it is difficult to secure water tightness, once concrete cracking develops. Recent studies have shown that concrete reinforced with short lengths of steel fibres possesses some improved characteristics when compared to ordinary concrete. The safety and durability of offshore structures is ensurcd, if steel fibre reinforced concrete is placed over the surface of steel structures, or if steel fibre reinforced concrete is used at the region of concrete structures where large tensile stress is induced. In the paper, the authors carried out a series of pull-out tests on steel fibre reinforced concrete subjected to tensile loading. Both deformed and round fibres were employed in the tests. From the large amount of the tests results, the effect of fibre orientation, embedment length and the number of fibres were clarified. Theoretical analyses were carried out on peak pull-out loads of straight and/or inclined fibres. A comparison of the calculated and observed pull-out loads shows good agreement.