Experimental Study on Shear Behavior of Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete Beams with High-Strength Reinforcement

Many researchers have performed experimental and theoretical studies on the shear behavior of steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) beams with conventional reinforcement; few studies involve the shear behavior of SFRC beams with high-strength reinforcement. In this paper, the shear test of eleven beams with high-strength reinforcement was carried out, including eight SFRC beams and three reinforced concrete (RC) beams. The load-deflection curve, concrete strain, stirrup strain, diagonal crack width, failure mode and shear bearing capacity of the beams were investigated. The test results show that steel fiber increases the stiffness, ultimate load and failure deformation of the beams, but the increase effect of steel fiber decreases with the increase of stirrup ratio. After the diagonal crack appears, steel fiber reduces the concrete strains of the diagonal section, stirrup strains and diagonal crack width. In addition, steel fiber reduces crack height and increases crack number. Finally, the experimental values of the shear capacities were compared with the values calculated by CECS38:2004 and ACI544.4R, and the equation of shear capacity in CECS38:2004 was modified to effectively predict the shear capacities of SFRC beams with high-strength reinforcement.