Articles

Experimental Study on the Structural Ductility of UHPC Beams under Flexure

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Abstract

Ultra-high performance concrete shows great potential in the construction industry. However, the structural-level ductility of UHPC members has not been clearly established and is frequently subverted by the crack localization phenomenon. This paper presents an experimental investigation on the structural ductility of a total of twelve UHPC beams tested under flexure. The main variable parameters are the reinforcement ratio, ranging from low to high ratios, and the fibers volumetric ratio, selected as 0%, 1.5% and 2.5%. The results revealed that 1.5% fibers ratio and a corresponding reinforcement ratio between 1.2 % - 4.4% are generally adequate for generating sufficient ductility on a structural level, and adding more fibers has a minimal contribution. Moreover, adding fibers is not only necessary to improve the ductility from a tension side, but also from a compression side as the fibers impose a slow and gradual crush of UHPC, thereby improving the ductility in the post-peak branch.

Keywords: UHPC, ductility, structural ductility, cracking

How to Cite: Alsomiri, M. & Liu, Z. (2023) “Experimental Study on the Structural Ductility of UHPC Beams under Flexure”, International Interactive Symposium on Ultra-High Performance Concrete. 3(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.21838/uhpc.16653