Effect of Steel Fiber Ratios in Thin Concrete Plate Modeling

Steel fiber reinforcement has emerged as a pivotal innovation in enhancing the mechanical properties of concrete, particularly in applications requiring improved tensile strength, energy absorption, and ductility, thereby making it a vital consideration in the retrofitting of reinforced concrete elements. Compression strength, splitting tensile strength, and flexural strength tests were conducted to determine the mechanical properties in term of compressive and tensile strength of concrete panels containing different proportions of steel fibers for use in the Retrofitting (thin concrete plate) of reinforced concrete elements. Steel fibers were incorporated into the concrete at volume fractions of 0%, 1%, and 2%. To compare and verify the tensile strengths obtained from the experiments, formulas provided in TS 500 and results from ANSYS 15 finite element program were utilized. In regard to the flexural strength test results, the incorporation of steel fibers in the cement mortars led to a significant increase in tensile strength, with enhancements of up to 112.5% and 137.5% for steel fiber volume fractions of 1% and 2%, respectively. Furthermore, increasing the steel fiber volume fraction to 1% and 2% notably improved the energy absorption capacity by 80 and 110 times, respectively, and the ductility ratio by 15 and 18 times, respectively.