Applications of Steel-Fibre-Reinforced Ultra-High-Strength Concrete Bjame C. Jensen, Prof Carl Bro as, Odense, Denmark Summary In this paper, the properties of a steel-fibre-reinforced ultra-high-strength con- crete are discussed. The matrix is a silica-fume-based concrete with a compres- sion strength of 140-200 MPa. Among other excellent properties, the bonds be- tween reinforcement bars and the concrete are very good. Thus, the anchorage length of the reinforcement bars is very small. Taking advantage of this, a new building system made up of precast elements has been designed. The building system is composed of columns and slab elements only, which are cast together in a very simple process. The system can produce flat-slab buildings that have large spaces between the columns, making it possible to design buildings with a high degree of flexibility in terms of usage The Material Demands for structures with reduced dead loads and increased durability have led to the development of high- strength and ultra-high-strength con- cretes. In ultra-high-strength con- cretes, the binder is often composed of Portland cement powder and other fine particles, such as fly ash, steel powder or Al,O;, Ultra-fine particles, ‘often round silica fume partictes (ci- ameter 0.1-0.2 mm) with high SiO: content, are then added to the binder. Such binders are very dense and strong, thus producing ultra-high- strength concrete. However, such types of concrete are very brittle, which is not good for structural pur- poses. The problem can be solved though by adding steel fibres to the concrete. In the work presented here, the con- crete used is a silica-fume-based con- crete known as Compresit. It is chara terised by its dense, durable and very strong binder (Densit), which contains tightly packed fine and ultra-fine parti- cles. ‘The characteristic strength of Compresit is 140-200 MPa The water/powder ratio of Compresit is 0.15-0.18, the silica fume content is 20-25% (by vol.), and the steel fibre content is 6% (by vol.). The length and diameter of the fibres are 12 mm and 0.4 mm, respectively, and the fibres have a tensile strength of about 1600 Peer-eviewed by international ‘experts and accepted by the TABSE. Publications Commitee Structural Engineering International 2/99 kPa. The fibres are of Bakaert Stan- dard, and are made of plain straight cut wire. Quartz sand is used as the ag- gregate, with particle diameters of up to4mm. Performance of the Material The matrix material has been tested in several research works, including the Eureka and Brite-EuRam projects, and in individual projects [1-3] Due to the low water/powder ratio, large amounts of anhydrous particles are present in the matrix. These act as ‘an effective barrier to any soluble sub- stance because the water is used to produce new hydrates that block the pores of the matrix and prevent fur ther penetration. ‘The matrix is alkaline and it seems to have no capillary-free water. Capillary porosity has not been detected, and all pore diameters are less than 6 nm. The small cracks in the concrete are not in- terconnected, partly due to the large number of fibres. In the dense Compresit matrix, water absorption and air permeability are very low, and the chemical resistance is very good. Freeze/thaw damages were not detected after tests according to RILEM Recommendation no. 117- FDC. The matrix is practically immune to carbonation, and the extent of chlo- ride diffusion is extremely low com- pared with that of ordinary concrete. Resistance to fire could be a problem because the Compresit matrix is ex- tremely dense. The risk of explosive spalling due to vapour pressure from heated water has been investigated, and it was found that, after a reason- able drying period, no spalling oc: curred during exposure to high tem- peratures. This is due to the low water content and the presence of the steel fibres. Another advantage of Compresit is that, in contrast to ordinary concrete, the strength of Compresit does not de- crease when it is heated to more than 300-350°C. In addition, due to the composition of the binder, the decom- posing processes in Compresit are dif- ferent from those in ordinary concrete (4) The failure criterion for Compresit has been investigated intensively [5]. It has been determined that Coulomb's modified failure hypothesis can be used as a failure criterion and that the theory of plasticity can be used in the ultimate limit state, The modification that occurs upon failure will normally result in a tensile strength of zero, and the failure criterion in the plane stress field will be the square failure criteri- on, which also occurs with convention- al concrete (Fig. 1). Therefore, designs can be carried out according to mod- ern theories of conerete design [6] as used in Eurocode 2 in the design of shear in beams and in construction joints, However, the coefficient of effi 2 f, Fig I: Failure criterion Reports 14366/2 youoweuzayu Sopoouysug jeamroans asevasd wrosy sBuypying yons sonpord OF 1oNaMOHL AUTIGIOY stp 190 (SBut -puyng wuunjos-qeys) sBuipying guise. “Bupyng ay Jo ast 941 uo Supuadap *(aaeid ayer Inoys 40) aoeid sayea uayo SuIpunqas araym Suorninsut pu sFurpping 29130 40} Ajperpadsa ‘pansap uayjo axe AILq Nay Jo aaiop uty e MUN SBuIpENG woaysig Surpring Man VW ‘WYN ST-ZI Jo AB1aua omoesy v pur ced 81-21 JO yiduans apsuar v *egD (¢ Jo entzaut Jo snynpour perm we “egy 002-0PT Jo WPBuaNs uorssaaduod v o1e usadwo Jo saniadod yeods any, swujo! yo sodA1 mou uo s1sa1 1anpuos ‘01 Azessaaau Ins sting ‘stutof usisap 01 pasn aq ue uonenba ayy, [or] ssau -y8nor 31 uo pusdap 1ou sop Yrs “eA09 aiaiouos ay) wos; uoRngtiuo9 ayi siuasaidar (4'Sc0) uonenba ayy Jo ued Ise] ou, ‘Spuens Sussonsard 40} o19z se waxe) 9g IsMUT 1 ‘JeQ aut Jo ssauyBnoy ay Jo spuadap ose fun jd at asnesog “o1ar9u09 ay jo Buna ads stuaard yoy “quowoouoyutas (2 =u) sing osuaasuons ‘on yp 40g » fo womomrs puogy m4 ass Suypying qoys og +p By Testansuen ayy Woy uoHMattuoD om stuasoidaz ('6/1) uonenba ayy Jo ized Puodds af 0182 01 jenba aq 01 pouns Se 99 URD aNqea iy) Spuens BuIssons sod 104 ‘S1Eq pagal auf Jo ssouysinos ay1 wosy uoNNgUOS ay siuasoidox $0 ‘I “ba Jo apis puey-aysir ay) uD ‘sivg [estoasueat Jo saquinu ay) st vu pue *1eq wawao.ojulox Jesi9AsUEN v Jo Pare [eUONIZ9S-sso19 ay) st" a194a6 P oH ” won senbs ay jo suvaui x00} 2YL “gels Wonog ayy UF sieq e018 WA sluawafa araiquoD uN se peut st warsKs HOMULIOJ YL “pasn u99q SOY, warsKs lomuLOy waueULIed F LOO, dot ayy ur pue “usardwoy jo apeu age syuauia]a ses aly ‘wopUuoT “TuDuL sysiqeisa yoreasay Suiping oy we Azovexogey v ut Ing waaq sey armanzIs geis-tey a1aisu0s Aaioys-uanas-y ‘soseo jeigads ut fuo nsaidwo3 paaioy “uaz Jono apeur oq Aiqeqoud | squow[o jeanyonus “([Z] stvaq autos ‘woyy pue suuNjoo HoYS WON] Pato aq vo sdnuins ‘ajdurexa 103) poo Aza age saudwio;) pue_yua1w2010} -urar waamiag spuog ay7 yBnowp uaAT aoejd aye) 10U jIIm ysarduto.) kq 21219 -wo9 AreuIp10 JO uonnninsqns yPx.UDe © 1eUN sNOIAgo st ‘aroFaz9uT ‘aI9zu09 Axeurpso Jo 1ey) wer 94814 proprnoy o1 -aaiyp st wsaudwiod Jo aoud ou, FEA 2p JO 987) [eANPNAS “yarou09 [euonuesuos 10) se eNOS owes ay) Sursn parejnores aq touues suoneinoye> soy o1ut pasnpoxnut st yey ‘A “Koua!9 12109 unvap fo uonras sso49 :2 Sty ———————— le [apeconcrete elements is not easy. Trans- portation of slab elements, and some- times the crane capacity, limits the size of the slab elements and conse- quently the space available between the columns. The situation could be changed, however, if it were possible to connect the slab elements in such a way that columns are not necessary at each corner of the elements (Fig. 4) A flat-slab building system as shown in Fig. 4 has been developed, tested and built. The joints between the slab ele- ments are placed above the supports and at the centre of the span between the supports. A building can be erect- ed by placing the columns in their foot- ings and temporary columns at the crossings of the joints. Then, the slab elements can be mounted on top of the columns, simple scaffolding work be- neath the joints can be carried out, and the joints can be executed. After a few days, the scaffolding and the tempo- rary columns can be moved, and the result is a “monolithic” slab supported by columns. ‘The joints between the slab elements are placed where the most extreme moments appear in the slab. If can- tilever slabs are used, the shear force will also be of extreme importance. ‘The system requires a very high per- formance of the joints, but the erection process is rather simple. Fig. 5: Building system during erection Structural Engineering International 2/99 ‘The simple process saves some costs, but the additional cost of using the expensive fibre-reinforced Compresit in the joints makes the whole system only slightly cheaper than traditionally column-beam-slab buildings. The flexi- bility of the building is, however, much better. Furthermore, if the capacity of the mo- ‘ment transfer between the slab and the columns can be taken into account, shear walls can be omitted and the flexibility of the system can be opti- mised. Tests have indicated that this can be achieved, provided that the buildings have only a few stories and are located outside seismic areas, for example in Northern Europe. The sys- tem has already been used in Den- mark, with a column space of 6 m and with slab element dimensions of 5.9 m 2.9 m, leaving a joint opening of 100 mm (Figs. 5 and 6). Fig. 6: Joint between column and slab ele- Connections ‘To connect the slab elements in the above-mentioned building system, the excellent bond between reinforcement bars and steelibre-reinforced Com- presit has been used. The joints are de- signed as shown in Fig. 7. ‘The reinforcement bars (8 mm in dia- meter) are extended 80 mm from the slab into the joint, Longitudinally, bars (6 mm in diameter) are placed in the joint on top of the bars from the slabs. ‘All the joints are cast with Compresi Tests on the moment capacity of the joint have been carried out with differ- ent lengths of extension of the bars into the joint [11]. The aim of the tests was to find the length of anchorage that ensured yielding in the bars dur- ing the load. The tests showed that an ss poco enh Fig, 7: Joints between slab elements extension length of 80 mm or even 60 mm was enough to ensure yielding in the reinforcement. With an extension length of 40 mm, anchorage failure was observed. A typical load-deflec- tion curve from a test with yielding in the reinforcement is shown in Fig. 8. Fire tests have also been carried out [11]. The thermal fire load was deter- wed according to the standard time- temperature curve given in ISO 834. ‘The fire resistance can be taken as 60 min, and it can easily be extended to 90 min, Itis notable that, even though the gree of steel fibres in the Compresit is high, the casting process at the site is, not difficult. The casting is of course not as easy as that for ordinary con- crete, but more importantly the strength of the joint is very sensitive to the execution of the casting. In Japan, connections between large concrete elements (cross section 900 mm x 500 mm) have been tested [12], and researchers are now focussing on the bonding of thick reinforcement bars (up to 51 mm). In Sweden, inves- tigations on connections between bridge beams are in progress, having. been initiated by the highway authori- ties, 0 ojo Fig. 8: Load-deflection curve at bending Reports 14566/2 (wuopeusayuy Supaoussug jeun}onNg suodey ort / LOTELOTE Sp+ sng CTLLLOTE Sp+ souoNd > | ssanbax jepads uo ajqi 184) PUB SUOHEA}SUoMap ‘a>fA198 BUNINSUOD wadequado> 00¢7-4d suraisdg ssa miig-uy S/V SINAWNULSNI NNVAYAD swouruac 701 foadnapurg suaquio 9}2:9u09 Jo ssaunppqy} Jo JuDUIBINSEI|A, suawdojanop yiBuans aBe Kure seys-22904 20 SY SurssauBo2d Jo wopeNfes suey parsafut 20 stamp aqquo Jo “3-2 ‘uonsafur yo Keng syper Sujuado aonans jo ydaq -103 dunaeys éq pasnes 3-9 ‘oyar5u0> pure [99}s u9944jaq BuspuOdaC, stej190 eydse mojoq souesquiou aan29}02d Jo Bunsoy AyU30}U] ‘suai aay H9IATOG KHOI, uosou siepaao yeydse nouns 40 ype ‘quis 20 syuatajo Suquy jouumy ‘9}230}0ys Jo sKaaans woNTUIUTE|Og + ‘SEDIE JuOUIIDEOJUIaZ pI}S93 14 us uaa “Buyquioadouoy pue spIoA ‘syDRID Jo UONEIO'T + of anbyuysay aaponsisap wou “yoas-y8ty ssomou ay, saanjanays Dy fo uoysajap mupf sof wajsky Isa], oyaq-1avduy 121900 (osouedey ut) ot ¢1-soet A 2661 2 ON “ot 10a ‘samansey o1oz9u05, uedep jo Sur P2200Kd udDde4) spun ZOUOW tBuaate Wir pediofiney agg pawy Bass soy SmaoU09 180-044 TEI WH VXOIHS [2th $1-£9 1 Gogh stony Sioaiey ‘samnsig. s101000), wiapoy UO wns dwg o1ps0N. ‘aiaoua> posrofus axgif tnduanryiiy tay Suasn sBiapyng tsbo0ud tn suousouey ‘We 18 “98 NASNAE [VI] L661 “Vay 2295, suonuosuoy Buds [py s1o.000 poner snoy soaig yduous ysis, Jo sovtodoug puog OA ‘NASNAL “8 anyvv [oll Le6t Van =p895 “uonuantog funds [oy sung Sutoofiaoy paonds stg. 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