POST-TENSIONED SFRC BEAMS

Marco di Prisco (1) and Daniele Dozio (1) (1) Department of Structural Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Abstract A new post-tensioned SFRC precast structure was designed to take advantage of posttensioning technique and steel fibres to develop a fast procedure to stabilize a ground slope. The element is conceived as a two-dimensional structure (6 x 2.5 x 0,3 m) and is posttensioned in two directions at right angles. The element is applied on the slope anchored by 4 ground cables, 20 m long. Steel fibres prevent the introduction of further conventional reinforcement. In the framework of this research 15 beams were tested in a 4 point bending set-up. The main variables considered are the post-tensioning action, its eccentricity and the presence of steel hooked fibres. Even a conventional reinforcement solution at the same cost is investigated and discussed. A prediction of the load vs. deflection and of the bending moment vs. curvature curves is proposed, taking into account the constitutive relationships deduced by tests carried out according to Italian Codes (UNI 11039). A significant contribution of steel fibres in the postpeak behaviour is highlighted by experimental tests. Such residual bearing capacity is very important for redundancy structures and requires the introduction of suitable constitutive laws in order to be adequately considered. 1. INTRODUCTION

The unbonded post-tensioning technique is not often used with steel fibre reinforced concrete, because continuous steel reinforcement gives better performance when bonded to concrete. Moreover when axial post-tensioned force is able to stabilize crack propagation, fibres cannot give a significant contribution to resistance at the onset of beam cracking. In this situation it is not very clear if crack distance is governed by the cross section side as in plain concrete or if it is controlled by a size connected with fibre length. Moreover, due to both the unbonded condition of longitudinal continuous reinforcement and the reduced content of fibres used (50 kg/m3), a significant contribution in the post-peak behaviour after compression failure cannot be expected and therefore also beam ductility [1] cannot be a priori significantly changed by fibre introduction. The experimental programme here presented is mainly aimed at investigating these two aspects. Finally, it is also very interesting to

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understand if tensile crack propagation induce the failure of ducts or delamination between ducts and concrete matrix takes place. 2. MATERIAL PROPERTIES

2.1 Mix design The design of the self consolidating mix was performed starting from common methods suggested by literature for conventional SCC without fibres. Such approach was adopted for the design of SFRC mixture. Portland cement type I 52.5 R was chosen and fixed as a design input, whereas its weight is set as variable. Three aggregate sizes were used: sand (0 < d < 4 mm), coarse aggregate A (4 < d < 8 mm) and coarse aggregate B (6 < d < 12 mm). The mix was filled-up with filler d < 0.125 mm. A polycarboxylic ether superplasticizer was added and its content ratio was defined on the basis of experimental tests. The mix design approach followed an optimized approach. After the definition of the design variables, these ones were embedded to an objective function that states the conditions that must be fulfilled to solve the problem. A series of constraints governing the variables values were considered. The following variables computed as volume quantities and intended for a volume unit were considered: cement, water, filler, sand aggregate, coarse aggregates A and B volumes. The objective function and the constraints can be described as mathematical expressions of these variables (eq. 1 and Table 1). It's worth noting that aggregate and filler volumes are transformed into a second-level series of variables used in the objective function and in the constraint formulation. Aggregate categories were redefined according to this classification: thin aggregates (d < 0.075 mm), medium aggregates (0.075 mm < d < 5 mm) and coarse aggregates (d > 5 mm).

f ( x i ) = (B th B( x i ))
i =1

(1)

A self compacting behaviour can be obtained by using a grading curve lying on the Bolomey curve as defined by eq. 2.

d B = A + (100 A) d max

(2)

where A is a parameter, whose increase corresponds to the mix workability growth (common values for a standard concrete are between 10 - 12, while for an SCC usual values are 18-20). The objective function f(x), that has to be minimized, was defined as the difference between the theoretical and the actual grading curve by Equation 1, where n is the number of sieves for the definition of the grading curve. The problem description was completed by the definition of a series of constraints, derived from literature [2] and reported in Table 1, which represent typical conditions that reflect a SCC behaviour. At the end of the three step optimization cycle, the optimized mix was reached (Table 2). It's worth noting that cement content was fixed before the optimization started, as well as the superplasticizer content. Cement weight was established to fulfil the National Recommendation UNI 11104 and to reach a characteristic cubic strength of about 60 MPa. A content of 50 kg/m3 of hooked-end lowcarbon steel fibres was in some cases introduced: their length was 60 mm and their diameter was 0.8 mm.

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Table 1: SFRC mix: selected constraints Constrained parameter Constraint Coarse aggregate Vg < 340 l/m3\ volume1 Cement filler and sieved 170 < Vff < 200 sand3 volume l/m3 2 1 Fine /coarse aggregate 0.95 < Vf/Vc < volume ratio 1.00 Water/cement, filler and 0.31 < Vw/Vff < sieved sand3 volume 0.36 Maximum weight water Ww=(w/c) Wc content (UNI 11104) Total volume Vtot = 1 m3

Table 2: SFRC mix design Constituent Cement (CEM I 52.5R) Coarse aggregate A Coarse aggregate B Sieved sand Calcareous filler Steel fibres 60/0.8 Superplasticizer/ cement ratio Water/binder ratio 1 : da > 5 mm 2 : da < 5 mm 3 : da < 75 m Quantity [kg/ m3] 400 569 (da < 12 mm) 403 (da < 8 mm) 676 (da < 4 mm) 96 (da < 0.1 mm) 50 2.2 % 0.39

2.2 Mechanical characterization A careful characterization of the material in uniaxial compression (Table 3) and in bending (Table 4) was carried out: the former on 150 mm side cubic specimens, the latter on notched prismatic beams according to UNI 11039 Italian Standards by using a 4 point bending set-up. The results gathered for plain concrete (R-P; Table 3) and steel fibre reinforced concrete series (S; Table 3) exhibit a cubic compressive strength of 63 73 MPa respectively and a secant elastic modulus close to 30 GPa measured in the stress range 10-30% of the peak strength, according to the Standard UNI 6556, on the unloading branch of the third cycle. With reference to tensile behaviour, a 4 point bending test on notched specimen was used to characterize both the plain and SFRC specimens (Fig.1), according to UNI 11039 Italian Standard [3]. The nominal first cracking strength fIf (related to a CTOD = 0.1 mm), the peak strength fpeak, and the residual strengths feq(0-0.6) and feq(0.6-3) average values of the nominal strengths in the CTOD ranges 0-0-6 mm and 0.6-3.0 mm are given in Table 4. Finally also the parameters Ft1 and Ft2 used to trace the constitutive law according to [4,5,6], and the ductility indexes D0 and D1 respectively defined as ratios of feq(0-0.6)/ fIf and feq(0.6-3)/ feq(0-0.6) are indicated.

Table 3: Compressive strengths at different ages measured on 150 mm side cubic specimens (average on 12 or 18 tests) cast with plain (P), R/C (R) and SFRC (S) full-size beam; test age, cubic compressive strength and density of cubic specimens, elastic secant modulus measured on cylinder specimens ( = 150 mm), cast and tested in the same day of full size beams fccm fccm,1 fccm,7 fccm,28 Curing Ec Code (dev. st.) (dev. st.) (dev. st.) (dev. st.) [days] (test number) [MPa] [kg/m3] [MPa] [MPa] [MPa] [MPa] 2325 63.66 P-R 33.19 50.71 64.45 29350 38 (14) (5.27) (12) (3.55) (2.83) (4.20) 2386 73.17 S 34.97 52.92 67.11 30837 90 (25) (3.38) (18) (3.00) (5.36) (4.67)

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Table 4: average tensile material properties at the age of the test on full-scale beam fIf fpeak fFt [MPa] [MPa] [MPa] 3.850 3.465 4.509 3.716 4.025 10.56 6.181 6.805 6.644 7.023 4.982 6.279 6.526 5.571 5.269 6.142 11.61 4.058 3.344 3.622 10.55 3.509 3.915 4.263 3.900 3.808 3.776 4.118 4.503 3.718 3.945 7.68 feq(0-0.6) [MPa] 5.559 6.063 5.600 6.216 4.623 5.602 5.825 4.920 4.650 5.451 10.79 feq(0.6-3) [MPa] 2.879 3.890 4.014 4.545 2.496 3.661 3.672 2.409 2.809 3.375 22.19
7 [MPa]
6 5 4 3 2 1 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

R0A R0B P1A

Ft1 Ft2 [MPa] [MPa] -

D0 1.425 1.391 1.187 1.437 1.092 1.314 1.263 0.983 1.120 1.246 -

D1 0.512 0.649 0.732 0.733 0.553 0.651 0.638 0.506 0.604 0.620 -

2.501 2.728 2.520 2.797 2.081 2.521 2.621 2.214 2.092 2.453 -

0.189 0.581 0.747 0.874 0.208 0.570 0.526 0.097 0.358 0.461 -

Average Variation Coefficient [%] S0A 3.899 S0B S0C S1A S1B S1C S2A S2B S2C 4.350 4.736 4.334 4.231 4.195 4.575 5.003 4.131

Average 4.384 Variation 7.69 Coefficient [%]

7 [MPa]
6 5 4 3 2 1 0

P1A R0A R0B Average

S0A S0B S0C

S1A S1B S1C

S2A S2B S2C average

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4

CTODm [mm]

CTODm [mm]

(a)

(b)

Figure 1: Nominal stress vs. crack opening displacement on (a) plain concrete and (b) SFRC notched beam specimens

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2.3 Constitutive laws The constitutive laws adopted in uniaxial compression and in uniaxial tension are sketched in Figure 2 for both plain and SFRC materials. Their reliability to reproduce the mechanical behaviour of bending tests has been widely discussed in [4,5] and in [6] according to plane section models and in [7,8,9] according to Finite Element models. These constitutive relationships are now suggested in Italian Standards CNR DT204 [10]. In Figure 2a also the experimental curve obtained in uniaxial compression on prismatic specimens 150x150x200 mm treated with stearic acid at the ends to remove friction induced by press platens is shown.
fc

fctm 0.9fctm

fctm Ft1=0.45feq1 Ft2=0.5feq2 - 0.2feq1

Ec 1

1 f 3 c

Gc h
c/3 c

Sargin Feenstra u

1.5 (x10-4)

wi1 w1

wi2 wc

(a)

(b)

Figure 2: Constitutive laws in: (a) uniaxial compression [11] and (b) uniaxial tension
3. EXPERIMENTAL TESTS

The experimental programme consisted in testing 15 full-size beams (Table 5) characterized by a square cross section with a 600 mm side (Figs.3,4), according to a 4 point bending set-up (Fig.5). The reinforcement details are shown in Figure 4 for the whole set of beams. The choice of the reinforcement for R/C solution (824) was oriented to conserve a cost that was intermediate between P1 and P2 solution in which four or five 0.6 postTable 5: Planned four point bending test on full-scale beams Beam code R0 P1 P2 S0 Description Reinforced plain concrete beam with 8 24 longitudinal reinforcements and stirrups Post-tensioned plain concrete beam with 4 unbonded strands Post-tensioned plain concrete beam with 5 unbonded strands SFRC beam Post-tensioned SFRC beam with 4 unbonded strands Post-tensioned SFRC beam with 5 unbonded strands Number of beams 2 2 2 3 Beam code R0A R0B P1A P1B P2A P2B S0A S0B S0C S1A S1B S1C S2A S2B S2C Peak load [kN] 373.8 376.3 222.6 209.6 295.9 284.2 40.3 37.1 42.5 205.6 193.1 207.8 284.9 289.6 269.1

S1

S2

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Figure 3: S0, S1 and S2 beam respectively

10/15 cm 24 Unbonded strands 6/10'' Plastic sheath Unbonded strands 6/10''

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Figure 4: Cross sections of R0, P1/S1 and P2/S2 beams

swivel joint

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grease neoprene L 1-7 side 1 L 3-9

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435

loading knife steel plate

joint loading knife neoprene

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L3

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L5

side 1 A Vert A2
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Side view

Front view
Figure 5: Test set up

tensioned unbonded strands were introduced (fptk= 1860 MPa). With reference to transversal reinforcement, in R and P series steel stirrups were introduced in a quantity featured by the same weight of steel fibres chosen in S solution (Fig.4). The instrumental equipment used during the test is shown in Figure 5: the main purpose was to measure the average bending curvature in the spacing between the load knives (Fig.6).

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Figure 6: Testing phase (beam P2B) The results expressed in terms of load vs. mid-span deflection (depurated by the settlement of the supports) are shown in Figure 7a-f. The results, which exhibit a very small scattering, highlight what it was expected: the best results in terms of ultimate load is guaranteed by R/C solution, while unbonded plain solutions P1 and P2 show a poor response even if the stable propagation guaranteed by compression allow the designer a hardening behaviour up to significant deflections. In this case the failure was brittle and reached in compression and not in tension with yielding of the steel bars as in R/C solution.
400 P [kN] 300 400 P [kN] 300 P1A P1B Average 400 P [kN] 300 P2A P2B Average

200

200

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R0A R0B Average 0 40 80 [mm] 120 m

100

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0 0 40 80 [mm] 120 m

0 0 40 80 [mm] 120 m

(a)
50 P [kN] 40 S0A S0B S0C Average
PS

(b)
400 P [kN] 300 S1A S1B S1C Average

(c)
400 P [kN] 300 S2A S2B S2C Average

30
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0 0 4 8 [mm] 12 m

0 0 40 80 [mm] 120 m

0 0 40 80 [mm] 120 m

(d)

(e)

(f)

Figure 7: Relative load vs. mid-span deflection: (a) R0 beam, (b) P1 beam, (c) P2 beam, (d) S0, (e) S1, (f) S2. Beam self weight=6.75 kN; self weight of steel loading frame =2.2 kN

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P 300 [kN]

P1 S1

P 300 [kN]

P2 S2

200

200

100

100

0 0 30 60 90 120

0 0 30 60 90 120

Stroke [mm]

Stroke[mm]

(a)

(b)

Figure 8: Load vs. stroke displacement mean curves. Comparison between: (a) P1 and S1 beams, (b) P2 and S2 beams

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Figure 9: Pictures of failure in compression: (a) P1B, (b) S1B, (c) P2B and (d) S2B beams Steel fibre addition cannot change significantly the mechanical response of the full-size beams in bending before the peak, even if a small increase of the response can be observed at the onset of cracking. As it can be easily estimated steel fibres give a more significant contribution before the peak when no steel reinforcement is active (S0 solution, Fig.7d). Crack distance is once again mainly controlled by beam depth rather than fibre length as in plain concrete solution. By the way, a very significant change in the post-peak regime was observed despite the small steel fibre content used. This huge difference can be better appreciated by comparing both the load vs. stroke displacement curves (Figs.8a,b) and the pictures of the crack patterns at failure shown in Figure 9. This means that in such failure fibre confinement after failure plays a key role in terms of ductility.

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4.

NUMERICAL MODELLING

The experimental results have been simulated by using two different kinematic approaches: the plane section model (PS) [4,5,6] and Finite Element model (FE) [7,9]. The former assumes a linear strain distribution along the depth coordinate and a characteristic length that is set equal to the beam depth [8]. Starting from the assumed constitutive relationships in uniaxial compression and tension, expressed respectively as - and - w, (w represents the crack opening displacement; Figure 2b), it is possible to predict the hardening behaviour of SFRC beam without longitudinal reinforcement (beam S0; Figure 9a) up to the peak quite well. On the contrary, when the beam is post-tensioned, as S1 for example, the response curve in terms of load displacement cannot fit very well the experimental result: the predicted interaction is better because no localization is observed up to the peak load. After this localization in tension takes place it is difficult to obtain convergence. The post-tensioning load was reproduced by means of a simple constant compression load uniformly applied to the beam along its longitudinal axis or taking into account the second order effects which weakly change the axial load values: in both the case the predicted curve is too stiff because of the lack of localization due to the fictitious homogeneity of the material. Passing to F.E. model, two cases were analysed, by considering the twenty node brick elements mesh with or without mechanical defects. The defect distribution adopted is shown in Figure 9c: the defects consisted in a small reduction of uniaxial tension mechanical strength (-21 % on fIF; -41% on feq(0-0.6); -43% on feq(0.6-3)) taking into account the lower characteristic value computed according to the experimental scattering. The localization in this way is anticipated, but the map of the defects reveals only as a crude simplification of the real heterogeneity. It is important to underline that even if the numerical curve shape seems close to that experimentally detected, while the abrupt jump after the peak in the experimental tests corresponds to failure and localization in compression, in the numerical tests it corresponds to localization in tension. A better characterization in uniaxial compression is in progress in order to understand if it is possible to predict the unexpected main contribution of steel fibres after localization in compression according to a more refined model able to consider residual strength after localization in compression [12].
50 P [kN] 40
300 P [kN] 200

30

20
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10

S0C Exp.
PS NLFEA

0 0 2 4 6

S1C Exp. PS-variable strand tension PS-constant strand tension NLFEA-homogeneous material NLFEA-defect 0 20 40 60

m [mm]

m [mm]

80

100

(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 9: Comparison between experimental and numerical results: (a) S0C, (b) S1C. (c) Defect distribution shown in the test and assumed in the modelling

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6.

CONCLUSIONS

Fifteen beams 300x300x3500 mm were tested in bending to investigate their behaviour in unbonded post-tensioning: 2 were simply reinforced, 4 were simply post-tensioned, 9 were post-tensioned and steel fibre reinforced. The main contribution of fibre addition consisted in a reduction of crack opening at equal deflection due to the larger number of cracks in relation to what observed for plain concrete ones (about the double), and a very significant reduction of the peak loss after failure in compression, that contributes to increase their ductility, especially if boundary conditions applied to the beams guarantee them a certain redundancy. The numerical modelling of SFRC beams without post-tensioning is satisfactory when plane section or Finite Element models are adopted, while post-tensioned beams require a more careful description of defect distribution and a more refined model for uniaxial compression.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The research received the financial support of the Italian Ministry for University and Research (MIUR - Prin 2004). The authors thank MS. M. Calvetti, N. Sorrentino, for their precious support in the whole activity that is part of their MS. thesis. The authors are also in debt with Prof. R. Felicetti, MS. M. Lamperti and S. Lapolla for their experimental contribution.
REFERENCES
[1] Schumacher, P., Rotation capacity of fiber reinforced concrete beams, PhD thesis, TU Delft, University press, The Netherland, 2006. [2] Grnewald, S., Performance-based design of self-compacting fibre reinforced concrete, PhD thesis, TU Delft, Delft University press, The Netherland, 2004. [3] UNI 11039, Concrete reinforced with steel fibres. Part II: test method for the determination of first cracking strength and ductility indexes, 2003. [4] di Prisco, M., Felicetti, R., Lamperti, M., Menotti, G., On Size Effect in Tension of SFRC of Thin Plates, in Fracture Mechanics of Concrete Structures, Vail, Colorado, April 2004, (2), V.C.Li et al. (Eds.), B.L. Schmick & A.D. Pollington, USA, 2004, 1075 1082. [5] di Prisco, M., Ferrara, L. Colombo, M., Mauri, M., On the identification of SFRC costitutive law in uniaxial tension, Fibre-reinforced concretes, M. di Prisco et al. (Eds.), Varenna (Italy), Rilem Publ., PRO 39, 2004, 827-836. [6] Kooiman, A., Modelling Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete for Structural Design, PhD Thesis, Technical University Delft, Optima Grafische Communicatie, Rotterdam, 2000. [7] di Prisco, M., Felicetti, R., Iorio, F., FRHPC Precast roof elements: from constitutive to structural behaviour in bending, Fibre Reinforced Concrete, Lyon, Rilem Publ., PRO 15, 2000, 233-243. [8] di Prisco, M., Felicetti, R., Iorio, F., Gettu, R., On the identification of SFRC tensile constitutive behaviour, in Fracture mechanics of Concrete structures, R. de Borst, et al. (Eds.), (1), Balkema Publishers, Lisse, 2001, 541-548. [9] Dozio, D., SFRC structures: identification of the uniaxial tension characteristic constitutive law, PhD thesis, Politecnico di Milano, 2008. [10] CNR DT204, Guidelines for the design, construction and production control of fiber reinforced concrete structures. [11] Feenstra, P. H., Computational Aspects of Biaxial Stress in Plain and Reinforced Concrete, PhD thesis, Delft University, 1993. [12] Fantilli, A.P., Vallini, P., A cohesive model for fibre-reinforced composites in compression, in Fibre Reinforced Concrete for Strong, Durable and Cost-saving structures and infrastructures, M. di Prisco (Ed.), Starrylink, 2007, 47-54.

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