Crack Opening Evaluation of Highly Flowable Strain Hardening Fiber Reinforced Concrete (HF-SHFRC) under Tensile and Shear Forces

Highly flowable strain hardening fiber reinforced concrete (HF-SHFRC) has good workability in its fresh state and exhibits the strain-hardening and multiple cracking characteristics of high performance fiber reinforced cement composites (HPFRCC) in the hardened state. HF-SHFRC can be easily manufactured and delivered by ready-mix trucks for cast on the job site. Structural large-scale test results from several research programs also have shown that HF-SHFRC is effective in increased shear strength, displacement capacity, and damage tolerance in members subjected to large inelastic deformations. The results of two tests—long prismatic tensile test with continuous reinforcement and in-plane pure shear panel test—are carried out in this paper. Compared to conventional concrete, not only does it show much better mechanical performances, HF-SHFRC also presents lower crack potential and excellent crack width control. These characteristics of HF-SHFRC can further diminish work of repair, rehabilitation, and maintenance after extreme loading events and give infrastructure longer service life, as well as eventually lower life-cycle costs.