Bond behaviour and flexural performance of structural synthetic fibre-reinforced concrete

This study established the optimum fibre geometry for structural synthetic fibre-reinforced concrete. This was achieved through bond testing of structural synthetic fibres that fully utilised matrix anchoring without fracturing, while maintaining the maximum pullout resistance. The experimental procedure was divided into three parts. First, eight deformed structural synthetic fibres with widely different geometries were investigated and bond tests were conducted. Crimped structural synthetic fibres performed significantly better than the other fibres in terms of interface toughness and pullout load. Second, additional bond tests were performed on various sizes of crimped structural synthetic fibres to determine their optimum dimensions, which were at a height of 1·8 mm and an amplitude of 6·0 mm. Third, flexural tests were performed on concrete reinforced using the optimum structural synthetic fibres. It was demonstrated that structural synthetic fibres improved the flexural toughness of concrete.