<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The size effect is a well-known characteristic of concrete structures. However, in the case of fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC), this issue is not thoroughly explored. Most design recommendations of FRC neglect the size effect or handle the behaviour of FRC structures in case of different structural sizes similar to plain concrete structures (assuming FRC is a homogeneous material). The aim of this paper is to show that the size effect of FRC can be divided, the share of the concrete matrix and the fibres in the size-dependent properties is separable. For the size effect research fifteen synthetic macro fibre reinforced concrete and six plain concrete beam specimens were prepared and tested in three different sizes and then evaluated with the semi-discrete analytical (SDA) model. The analysis of the experimental specimens has shown that the size effect significantly influences the concrete material in the case of FRC with softening material behaviour, but the residual loadbearing capacity which mainly arise from the local bridging effect of fibres is essentially independent of the structural size. It is also shown in this paper that the two defining parameters of the SDA model is independent of the structural size, so the model provides an excellent tool in case of the design of real-sized FRC structures.</p>
</abstract>

The size effect is a well-known characteristic of concrete structures. However, in the case of fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC), this issue is not thoroughly explored. Most design recommendations of FRC neglect the size effect or handle the behaviour of FRC structures in case of different structural sizes similar to plain concrete structures (assuming FRC is a homogeneous material). The aim of this paper is to show that the size effect of FRC can be divided, the share of the concrete matrix and the fibres in the size-dependent properties is separable. For the size effect research fifteen synthetic macro fibre reinforced concrete and six plain concrete beam specimens were prepared and tested in three different sizes and then evaluated with the semi-discrete analytical (SDA) model. The analysis of the experimental specimens has shown that the size effect significantly influences the concrete material in the case of FRC with softening material behaviour, but the residual loadbearing capacity which mainly arise from the local bridging effect of fibres is essentially independent of the structural size. It is also shown in this paper that the two defining parameters of the SDA model is independent of the structural size, so the model provides an excellent tool in case of the design of real-sized FRC structures.

Size Effect of Synthetic Fibre Reinforced Concrete – Investigation using a Semi-Discrete Analytical Beam Model

Budapest University of Technology and Economics

Architecture, Civil Engineering, Environment

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The size effect is a well-known characteristic of concrete structures. However, in the case of fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC), this issue is not thoroughly...

Size Effect of Synthetic Fibre Reinforced Concrete – Investigation using a Semi-Discrete Analytical Beam Model

Published Online: Oct 20, 2023

Page range: 117 - 129

Received: May 12, 2022

Accepted: Apr 17, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/acee-2023-0039

Keywords
Analytical beam model, Fibre reinforced concrete, Size effect, Synthetic fibre reinforcement, Three-point bending test

© 2023 Mária Erdélyiné Tóth et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Size Effect of Synthetic Fibre Reinforced Concrete – Investigation using a Semi-Discrete Analytical Beam Model

Published Online: Oct 20, 2023

Page range: 117 - 129

Received: May 12, 2022

Accepted: Apr 17, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/acee-2023-0039

KeywordsAnalytical beam model, Fibre reinforced concrete, Size effect, Synthetic fibre reinforcement, Three-point bending test

© 2023 Mária Erdélyiné Tóth et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Analytical beam model, Fibre reinforced concrete, Size effect, Synthetic fibre reinforcement, Three-point bending test