Strength and behaviour of steel fibre reinforced concrete corners under opening bending moment

Abstract

The effect of adding steel fibre to reinforced concrete corner joints under opening bending moment was investigated by tests on 23 specimens containing various amounts of fibres up to 2% (by volume). Two reinforcement details, with and without inclined bars, were used in the full-sized specimens, which were tested to failure. The corner angle was varied from 60° to 180°. The results obtained indicate a considerable improvement in the flexural efficiency and ultimate moment-carrying capacity of the joints with the inclusion of moderate amounts of fibres. By adding 1–2% fibres the risk of diagonal tension failure is considerably reduced, and full flexural capacity is achieved in the weakest corners (corner angles of 75–150°). From the analysis of the results, a simplified empirical relationship was derived for the prediction of the ultimate moment-carrying capacity of joints.