Strength and ductility of steel fibre reinforced concrete under bearing pressure

An experimental programme is presented on the behaviour of plain and steel fibre concretes under the action of bearing stresses. The effect is assessed of the inclusion of fibres in the top layer of a concrete block under the bearing area, as opposed to full-depth fibre reinforcement of the block. The effectiveness of dowel bars under the bearing area in increasing the bearing load carrying capacity of concrete and fibre reinforced concrete is investigated. The specimen's configuration is selected to simulate the pressure of columns on footings.