Tanta University

Faculty of Engineering
Structural Engineering department

Review on flexural and shear behavior of UHPFRC

beams
Under the supervision of :
Prof. Dr. / Mohamed Sakr
E-mail: [email protected]

Department of Structural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tanta University, Egypt.

prepared by :
Hassan Reda Hassan Darweesh
E-mail: [email protected]

Department of Structural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tanta University, Egypt.

 Introduction

Flexural behavior of UHPFRC beams

Presentation
Layout Shear behavior of UHPFRC beams

Cyclic behavior of UHPFRC flexural members

Conclusion
Introduction
Introduction

 Concrete is the most widely used construction material due to locally available ingredients, economical

efficiency, ease of fabrication, low maintenance cost, sustainability, and durability.

 Although many structures are built of concrete, there are still some limitations related to the use of

conventional concrete, such as low tensile strength and almost no ductility.

 High performance concrete reinforced with steel fibers may be able to overcome these limitations.

 The addition of steel fibers increased the ductile behavior of beams,

 The use of UHPC can limit the amount of rebar used compared to conventionally reinforced concrete.
Flexural behavior of

UHPFRC beams
Yang et al. (2010)
100
P mm

s e Elastic
lt op
R esu Sl
modulus
200

mm

Compressive strength test setup Ten cylindrical

specimens

100

mm
400
mm
0 mm
1 0
Test setup for three-point bending test on a The six specimens of
Yang et al. (2010)

Material properties of the UHPC

Yang et al. (2010) Parameters used in the experimental program

The 14 beam specimens with rectangular cross sections. Two sets

of seven beams each were prepared and tested.

■ The reinforcement ratio less than 0.02 to investigate the behavior at a low rebar ratio.
■ The beams were subjected to pure bending.
Yang et al. (2010)

P P

Beam flexural test setup

Yang et al. (2010) Procedure for placing the UHPC

■ The placing concrete at one end of the beams resulted in better performance due to orientation and dispersion
Yang et al. (2010) Procedure for placing the UHPC

■ The placing concrete at one end of the beams resulted in better performance due to orientation and dispersion
Yang et al. (2010) Procedure for placing the UHPC

■ The placing concrete at one end of the beams resulted in better performance due to orientation and dispersion
 Typical crack occurrence pattern
Yang et al. (2010) ■ Cracks were not observed when the load was increased linearly at the beginning of the test.

step 1

■ The first micro-cracks occurred at the bottom face of the beam between the loading points.

step 2

■ New micro-cracks started to develop between the existing cracks.

Typical crack occurrence

pattern (beam R14-2)

step 3

■ many tightly spaced cracks

formed perpendicular to flexural

step 4

tensile forces
■ Most of the cracks continued to propagate toward the upper face.
 Typical crack occurrence pattern
Yang et al. (2010) ■ The cracks did not visually widen.
■ The failure occurs when the steel fiber begins to pull out of the UHPC matrix.
when the load carried by an individual fiber overcomes the ability of the UHPC to grip the fiber.
Fibers that are pulled out increase the load that other fibers nearby must carry.

step 5

step 6

Typical crack occurrence

pattern (beam R14-2)

■ At the peak load the fibers began to pull out .

■ This crack width became wider than any other crack in
the beam.
■ The failure was by the local bond failure between fibers
and the UHPC matrix as well as rebar yielding.
■ The failure occurred via flexural failure for all of the
members. Flexural failure with widening of a specific crack
 Test specimens
Yoo et al. (2016) ■ Flexure test specimens.

P
■ Compression test specimens. ■ Direct tensile test.
100
P 100
mm notched
mm
S pa 4 dogbone
n=3 00 m
m
00
mm 0 mm specimens
200 10
mm Three specimens.

Four cylindrical

specimens

■ The steel fibers with is used which were 13 mm in length and diameter of 0.2 mm.
Yoo et al. (2016) Schematic view of crack patterns

■ The crack width over the entire cross section was

theoretically identical.
■ Most of fibers at the crack surface were included in the
descending region of the fiber pullout curve.

Tensile specimen

■ Due to the inclined crack pattern for flexural beams, most

of the fibers at the crack surface were still included in the
ascending region of fiber pullout stress-slip curve.
that is the reason for lower crack width at the peak tensile
strength than that at the peak flexural strength.

Flexural specimen
Yoo et al. (2016) Section details of test beams

D13 GFRP rebar D13 steel rebar

Beams with GFRP rebars Beams with hybrid reinforcements

Yoo et al. (2016) Details of test setup

■ The concrete was placed at the end of the beams and then allowed to flow.
■ All tested beams had a length of 2900 mm.

Properties of steel and GFRP bars

 General flexural behavior of UHPFRC beams with reinforcements
Yoo et al. (2016)

Typical load–deflection

response of GFRP

bar-reinforced UHPFRC

beam (UHG6)

■ The first cracking was observed at a load of 54.5 kN, and there was no significant decrease in the stiffness up to a load of nearly 75 kN even though several
micro-cracks formed.
■ The flexural stiffness gradually decreased with an increase in the number of micro-cracks until a load of approximately 180 kN. The maximum crack width at this
load was approximately 0.1 mm.
■ One of the flexural–shear cracks initiated to be localized with the increase of crack width, and there was an insignificant increase in the number of cracks.
■ The maximum crack width at a load of 240 kN was approximately 5 mm.

■ When the beam reached to the peak load of 253.6 kN, the load carrying capacity decreased suddenly with concrete crushing.
Yoo et al. (2016) Load–deflection curves

Effect of replacing GFRP rebar to steel rebar

■ Each beam behaved depending on the reinforcement ratio and combination.

■ The beams with hybrid reinforcements of steel and GFRP rebars had higher post-cracking stiffness until steel yielding than those reinforced with GFRP rebars alone.
 Experimental results for UHPFRC beams with GFRP rebars and hybrid
Yoo et al. (2016)
reinforcements

Crack patterns and failure modes

UH-S2G2-1 UH-S2G2-1
UH-G2 UH-G2
at 200 kN
at 160 kN

UH-S2G2-2 UH-S2G2-2

UH-G5 UH-G5 at 180 kN

at 200 kN
UH-S2G3 UH-S2G3
at 220 kN
UH-G6 UH-G6
at 240 kN
UH-S3G3 UH-S3G3
at 240 kN
At near the peak load After failure
 Test specimens
Singh et al. (2017) P
100

mm

200
■ Compression test specimens. ■ Tension test specimens.
mm

3 dogbone

specimens
Four cylindrical
(a) Uniaxial tension test specimen; (b) Test set up for direct tension
specimens
test; (c) Cracking pattern under direct tension

Four simply supported beams were fabricated and tested

■ Large scale beam specimens.

Test beam details

■ The zone between the load points was not provided with the stirrups to
eliminate the confinement of concrete provided by the stirrups.
Reinforcement detail of beams: (a) B25-1 & B25-2; (b) B15-1; (c) B15-2
Singh et al. (2017) Two equal concentrated

loads applied

Instrumentation details of beams; (a) B25-1 & B25-2; (b) B15-1; (c) B15-2;

(d) location of strain gauges on concrete surface.

Singh et al. (2017) The stress-strain relationships

pe
Slo

Elastic

modulus

Compressive stress strain of UHPFRC Stress strain of UHPFRC under direct tension.

■ The average compressive strength is 143 MPa.

■ Three specimens of each bar diameter were tested under direct tension.
■ The elastic modulus is 38,47 Mpa.
Singh et al. (2017) Load-deflection relationships

B25-1 & B25-2 B15-1 & B15-2

■ The variation in the displacement capacities and cracking pattern can be due
to difference in the orientation and dispersion of the fibres in the beams.

● All the tested beams exhibited ductile failure and the failure is due to the rupture of steel bar reinforcement.

● The steel fibres effectively resisted the widening of the cracks and lead to the increased load carrying capacity even after the steel bars are yielded.
Shear behavior of

UHPFRC beams
 ■ Main test specimens ■ Compression test specimens

Voo et al. (2010) P P

100

P mm

P Six cylindrical
Test Setup and Instrumentation specimens
0.65 m 200

mm

Eight beams
8.6 m m
specimens 0.5

4m 4m

Cross section of prestressed

UHPC test specimens 8m 5.58

2.17
4.34
3.1 mm
 Mechanical Properties
Voo et al. (2010)

For specimens X-B4 to X-B6, a small

smallest a/ds expected failed at a decrease in load was observed as a/d
significantly higher load increased from 2.5 beam X-B4 to 4.5 beam

X-B6

Shear force versus midspan deflection for specimens

The increase in volume

of fiber reinforcement

leads to increase in

shear strength

constant a/d and varying fiber content

constant a/d ratio and fiber content constant fiber content and increasing a/d ratio
Voo et al. (2010)
Crack patterns for specimens X-B1 to X-B8

The failure was not due to transverse shear stresses

but due to longitudinal shear.

■ All the tested beams behaved in a similar manner with diagonal shear cracking initiated in the web regions of each of the shear spans.
■ The diagonal cracks then multiplied and propagated toward the top flange and smeared across the spans with increasing load.

■ At the peak load, a major diagonal crack formed and the beams failed in diagonal shear.
■ After the peak load, the diagonal crack opened considerably and the load reduced.
 Test specimens
Yang et al. (2012)
■ Flexure test specimens.
■ Compression test specimens.
P
100 P
mm

Cuboid specimens.
100
Cylindrical 200 mm
S pa 4
specimens mm n=3 00 m
m
00
mm 0 mm
1 0
 Test specimens
Yang et al. (2012) ■ Main test specimens

P P

0.7 m 0.7 m

Six beams 3.72 m m Six beams 4.7 m m

specimens 0.5 specimens 0.5

Elevation (a/d = 2.5) Elevation (a/d = 3.4)

Cross section
 Test specimens
Yang et al. (2012) ■ Main test specimens

The test set-up for beam specimens

(P0) The absence of prestress
(PS) The presence of prestress
 Load–mid-span deflection curve
Yang et al. (2012)

non-prestressed beams non-prestressed beams

S25 series beams S34 series beams

prestressed beams prestressed beams

S25 series beams S34 series beams
Yang et al. (2012) Effect of the shear span to

effective depth ratio on shear

strength

initial cracking shear load

Test results for cracking shear and ultimate shear load

For (non-prestressed beams)

■ The cracking and ultimate shear strength decreased as the shear span to depth ratio increased.
Yang et al. (2012) Effect of the shear span to

effective depth ratio on shear

strength

initial cracking shear load

Test results for cracking shear and ultimate shear load

For (prestressed beams)

■ The cracking and ultimate shear strength decreased as the shear span to depth ratio increased.
 Effect of volume fraction
Yang et al. (2012)
of steel fibre on the shear

strength

S25 series beams

Test results for cracking shear and ultimate shear load

■ The cracking and ultimate shear strengths increased as the steel fibre content increased.
S34 series beams
 Crack occurrence pattern
Yang et al. (2012)
( beam S34-F15-P0 )

crack step 1 crack step 2 crack step 3

Fibre pull-out
 Comparison of crack patterns
Yang et al. (2012)
(S25 series beams)

beam S25-F10-P0 beam S25-F15-P0

beam S25-F20-P0 beam S25-F10-PS

beam S25-F15-PS beam S25-F20-PS

 Comparison of crack patterns
Yang et al. (2012)
(S34 series beams)

beam S34-F10-P0 beam S34-F15-P0

beam S34-F20-P0 beam S34-F10-PS

beam S34-F15-PS beam S34-F20-PS

 Effect of prestress level on the shear strength
Yang et al. (2012)

beam S25-F20-P0 beam S25-F20-PS

beam S34-F20-P0 beam S34-F20-PS

■ The angle of the major diagonal crack depends on the orientation of principal stresses, which are influenced by the prestress level.
Cyclic behavior of UHPFRC

flexural members
 ■ Compression test specimens.
Test specimens
Hung (2016) P
100

mm

cylindrical
ults 200
Res
specimens mm

■ Direct tensile test.

Re
su
lt s

Result
s

stress versus strain curves multiple cracking pattern of dogbone specimens

 Test specimens
Hung (2016) ■ Main test specimens

Design details of test specimens

(a) B-2R-2SFR-0SF, B-2R-1SF, B-2R-2SF and B-2R-2SF/TB

(b) B-1.4R-2SF and B-1.4R-2LF

Design details of test specimens Test setup of the cantilever beam (unit: mm).
Hung (2016)

Applied reversed drift ratios.

 Crack patterns in the plastic hinge regions at 5% drift response
Hung (2016)

B-2R-0SF

B-2R-1SF

B-2R-2SF
 Crack patterns in the plastic hinge regions at 5% drift response
Hung (2016)

B-2R-2SF/TB

B-1.4R-2SF

B-1.4R-0LF
 Damage patterns in the plastic hinge regions at the end of the test
Hung (2016)

B-2R-0SF

B-2R-1SF

B-2R-2SF
 Damage patterns in the plastic hinge regions at the end of the test
Hung (2016)

B-2R-2SF/TB

B-1.4R-2SF

B-1.4R-0LF
Conclusion
Conclusion

 The placing concrete at one end of the beams resulted in better performance due to orientation and dispersion

of steel fibers to the direction of beam length at critical section of the beams.

 The cracking and failure patterns reveal that many tightly spaced cracks formed perpendicular to flexural

tensile forces in the beam. These results indicate the ability of UHPC to redistribute stresses and undergo

multiple cracks before fiber pullout.

 The beams with hybrid reinforcements of steel and GFRP rebars had higher post-cracking stiffness until steel

yielding than those reinforced with GFRP rebars alone.

 The steel fibres effectively resisted the widening of the cracks and lead to the increased load carrying capacity

even after the steel bars are yielded.

 The cracking and ultimate shear strength decreased as the shear span to depth ratio increased.

 The cracking and ultimate shear strengths increased as the steel fibre content increased.