Ultimate shear response of ultra-high-performance steel fibre-reinforced concrete elements

This paper examines the experimental performance of ultra-high-performance steel fibre-reinforced concrete (UHPSFRC) beams subjected to loads at relatively low shear span-to-depth ratios. The results and observations from six tests provide a detailed insight into the ultimate response including shear strength and failure mode of structural elements incorporating various fibre contents. The test results showed that a higher fibre content results in an increase in ultimate capacity and some enhancement in terms of ductility. Detailed nonlinear numerical validations and sensitivity studies were also undertaken in order to obtain further insights into the response of UHPSFRC beams, with particular focus on the influence of the shear span-to-depth ratio, fibre content and flexural reinforcement ratio. The parametric investigations showed that a reduction in shear span-to-depth ratio results in an increase in the member capacity, whilst a reduction in the flexural reinforcement ratio produces a lower ultimate capacity and a relatively more flexible response. The test results combined with those from numerical simulations enabled the development of a series of design expressions to estimate the shear strength of such members. Validations were performed against the results in this paper, as well as against a collated database from previous experimental studies.