Studies on the behaviour of steel fibre reinforced concrete under monotonic and repeated cyclic stress in tension

Tensile characteristics of concrete could be studied under direct tension. This requires suitable testing facility and there exists difficulty in ensuring uniaxial tension throughout the test. The indirect tensile testing techniques are splitting tension test, modulus of rupture test and double punch test (DPT) to mention. DPT is a simple and reliable testing technique to study the tensile characteristics of SFRC. DPT has shown lesser coefficient of variation from among other indirect tensile testing methods. In the present study, the tensile behaviour of SFRC under monotonically applied load was investigated using DPT. Concrete of grade M25, with hooked end steel fibres of aspect ratio 50 (50 mm length and 1 mm diameter), comprising fibre volumetric proportions of 1.0, 1.25, 1.50, and 1.75 percent were considered. The stress–strain characteristics were compared using the theoretical equations proposed in the literature. For the case of 1.5 and 1.75% SF, the theoretical peak stress was found to be lower bound compared to that arrived experimentally. The studies carried by various researchers with respect to the behaviour of SFRC under monotonic and cyclic stress in tension are presented.