Abstract:
Concrete is a brittle material which has a low tensile strength and a low tensile strain
capacity. These weak points of concrete can be resolved by including fibers made of different
materials with high technical specifications. This special type of concrete is known as Steel
Fiber Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) and exhibits superior properties in terms of ductility,
fracture energy, toughness, strength and durability due to the addition of steel fibers when
compared to conventional concrete. SFRC has a varied application area. In practice, steel
fibers which have different lengths, diameters, and aspect ratios are used. These variable
characteristics of steel fibers have highly influence on the performance of SFRC. The goal of
this study is aimed at creating a standard foresight in determining the fiber types by
comparing the steel fiber types which have the same tensile strengths and different lengths,
diameters, and aspect ratios. For this purpose, the series of SFRC specimens which have the
same concrete mixing ratios were produced by using steel fibers which have the same tensile
strengths and different lengths, diameters, and aspect ratios. The fresh properties of the
produced SFRC specimens were determined by the Slump test. The hardened properties were
determined by compressive and flexural strength tests. It was shown that the fresh and
hardened properties of the SFRC specimens were changed by steel fibers that had the same
shapes, tensile strengths and different lengths, diameters, and aspect ratios. The optimum steel
fiber types were determined according to the targeted fresh and hardened properties of SFRC.
