Investigations on the tensile strength of high-performance fiber reinforced concrete using statistical methods

This paper presents the investigations towards developing a better understanding on the contribution of steel fibers on the tensile strength of high-performance fiber reinforced concrete (HPFRC). An extensive experimentation was carried out with w/cm ratios ranging from 0.25 to 0.40 and fiber content ranging from zero to 1.5 percent with an aspect ratio of 80. For 32 concrete mixes, flexural and splitting tensile strengths were determined at 28 days. The influence of fiber content in terms of fiber reinforcing index on the flexural and splitting tensile strengths of HPFRC is presented. Based on the test results, mathematical models were developed using statistical methods to predict 28-day flexural and splitting tensile strengths of HPFRC for a wide range of w/cm ratios. The expressions, being developed with strength ratios and not with absolute values of strengths and are applicable to wide range of w/cm ratio and different sizes/shapes of specimens. Relationship between flexural and splitting tensile strengths has been developed using regression analysis and absolute variation of strength values obtained was within 3.85 percent. To examine the validity of the proposed model, the experimental results of previous researchers were compared with the values predicted by the model.