Steel fiber reinforcement allows to enhance the fracture performance in concrete. The con- crete toughness can be increased by adding one or more types of fibers to the concrete matrix. In order to evaluate the fiber effect on the material…
Steel fiber reinforcement allows to enhance the fracture performance in concrete. The con- crete toughness can be increased by adding one or more types of fibers to the concrete matrix. In order to evaluate the fiber effect on the material and the structural response, adequate tests have to be carried out. Fracture properties of concrete reinforced with a combination of fibers with different length is analyzed herein by means of uni-axial and bending tests. Experimental results on specimens reinforced with a low fiber content can be affected by a remarkable scatter: for this reason, an assumption based on the number of fibers expected in the cracked surface was introduced in order to identify a representative curve for each test and each material. A numerical simulation based on non-linear fracture mechanics of the experimental test was carried out in order to better identify the fiber contribution in the fracture propagation.