Steel rebar has been an effective and cost-efficient reinforcement for concrete. Corrosion in reinforcements has led to exploring alternate reinforcements such as FRP rebars, hybrid steel core FRP wound GFRP strands rebar and short fiber (steel and polyester, polypropylene, etc)…
Steel rebar has been an effective and cost-efficient reinforcement for concrete. Corrosion in reinforcements has led to exploring alternate reinforcements such as FRP rebars, hybrid steel core FRP wound GFRP strands rebar and short fiber (steel and polyester, polypropylene, etc) for its effectiveness as a reinforcement to arrest crack initiation and growth and enhancing ductility. The present study reports on the effectiveness of hybrid rebar as a reinforcement in fiber reinforced concrete beams. Thereafter a quasi-brittle phase field-based damage model for short fiber reinforced composites is developed to investigate the effectiveness of fibers in the concrete matrix in providing bridging action needed to enhance the ductility. Steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) is employed as a case study. The model incorporates randomly distributed steel fibers within a macroscale concrete matrix, with fibers represented as two-dimensional truss elements. A traction-separation law governs the fiber-concrete interface, while the concrete matrix is modelled using a quasi-brittle phase field damage approach. The model effectively simulates the classical three-point bending test for SFRC demonstrating good agreement with experimental data. Due to the macroscale representation of the concrete matrix, the model it is possible to extend its application to high- strength steel fiber reinforced concrete (HS-SFRC) by adjusting material properties of concrete. Moreover simulation of complex loading conditions can also be effectively simulated. Results of such simulations carried out will be shown during the presentation.