Experimental Study on Flexural Performance of Precast Prestressed Concrete Beams with Fiber Reinforcement

Abstract

Fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) has good toughness and a gentle stress–strain softening section, which can improve the inherent defects of concrete material such as high brittleness, easy cracking, and poor fracture toughness. In this paper, carbon fiber, aramid fiber and mixed fiber are introduced to enhance the performance of precast prestressed concrete beams (PPCB). The effects of different fiber types and adding rate on mechanical properties of FRC were studied via axial compression test and four-point bending test. Based on the flexural performance test of precast FRC beams, the failure form and the improvement degree of flexural ability of the beams were analyzed. Moreover, the load–deflection curve and the quantified ductility index obtained by the test were discussed, and the law of the improvement effect of fiber type on flexural property was revealed. The results show that the optimal addition rate of fiber is 0.6%. In addition, the addition of fiber significantly increased the cracking load and ultimate bearing capacity of the test beam, whereby the average increase in cracking load and ultimate bearing capacity was 40% and 20%, respectively. At the same time, the ductility of the beam is obviously enhanced by the action of fibers, among which the hybrid fiber has the best effect. Specifically, the ductility coefficient analysis verifies that aramid fiber plays an important role in improving the ductility of the components.

Keywords

• precast prestressed concrete beam (PPCB)
• fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC)
• fiber prestressed concrete beam (FPCB)
• flexural performance