Experimental Study in Direct Shear Strength of Fiber Reinforced Concrete

Concrete members like brackets, corbels and ledger beams may fail in direct shear. Such failure can be brittle and sudden (without warning). Steel fibers restrain cracking, increase tensile strength and enhance the ductility and energy absorption characteristics. This study presents an experimental investigation into the behavior of connections subjected to direct shear by testing push-off specimens. The main variables to be studied were fiber percentage, and the shear reinforcement ratio crossing the shear plane at right angles. Measurements such as slip, lateral separation, strains in both the parallel and the shear reinforcements and strain in the concrete were recorded throughout the test.The experimental results show that the fiber reinforcement increases shear strength and this fiber and stirrup reinforcements have an effective role within limited ratios.