Punching shear tests on steel-fibre-reinforced micro-concrete slabs

Abstract

Synopsis Investigations of the behaviour and strength characteristics of steel-Jihre-reinforced micro-concrete slabs subjected to punching shear are presented and discussed. A total of 12 simply-supported square slabs were tested. The parameters varied were the volume fraction of the fibres, the amount of tensile reinforcement and the concrete strength. The test results confirm that an increase infibre content improved the shear strength of the slabs; the position of the critical shear perimeter around the loaded area was also influenced by the fibre content. Based on these tests, a design method is suggested for evaluating the punching shear strength of fibre-reinforced concrete slabs. The predictions obtained bythe suggested method are shown to be satisfactory by comparing them with the values observed in the tests carried out by the authors and previous investigators.