Simplified prediction of the time dependent deflection of SFRC flexural members

• Published in: Materials and structures 2020-06, Vol.53 (3), Article 48
• Main Authors: Watts, Murray J., Amin, Ali, Gilbert, R. Ian, Kaufmann, Walter, Minelli, Fausto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Building construction; Building Materials; Civil Engineering; Codes of Practice; Concrete; Creep (materials); Engineering; Flexural strength; Machines; Manufacturing; Materials Science; Original Article; Processes; Reinforced concrete; Reinforcing steels; Shear strength; Solid Mechanics; Steel fiber reinforced concretes; Steel fibers; Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; Time dependence
• ISSN: 1359-5997; 1871-6873
• DOI: 10.1617/s11527-020-01479-8

It is well known that the inclusion of steel fibres into a concrete matrix has the potential to improve both the serviceability and strength characteristics of reinforced concrete. As a result of decades of academic interest into the material, design provisions for flexural strength, shear strength and short-term serviceability have been incorporated into international codes of practice. However, available design guidelines typically contain little or no guidance for engineers to confidently predict the long-term behaviour of structures manufactured with steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC). This limits the full utilization of the material in design practice. This paper presents a simplified model, suitable for design, that can reliably predict the effects of creep and shrinkage in SFRC members containing conventional reinforcement which are subjected to a sustained in-service flexural load. Predictions of the proposed model are compared to available data in the literature and are shown to correlate well.