ACI STRUCTURAL JOURNAL
Title no. 109-S06
Nonlinear Analysis of Beams Reinforced in Shear with
Stirrups and Steel Fibers
by Nino Spinella, Piero Colajanni, and Lidia La Mendola
Experimental four-point bending tests on steel fiber-reinforced
concrete (SFRC) beams were performed and the complete load-
versus-displacement curves were predicted by suitably adapting
a nonlinear finite element code for plain and reinforced concrete
(RC) elements to the analysis of SFRC structural members, based
on the modified compression field theory (MCFT) and the disturbed
stress field model (DSFM). The effect of steel fibers on shear-flexure
response is taken into account, mainly by incorporating appropriate
tensile and compressive stress-strain analytical relationships for
SFRC and introducing several modifications in the theoretical
models to cover local conditions at crack. The numerical results
show the model’s effectiveness to predict the structural response
of both specimens reinforced with steel fibers only and beams
with stirrups and steel fibers as transverse reinforcement. The
experimental and numerical results highlighted the capacity of steel
fibers to partially substitute the stirrups as shear reinforcement in
beams and demonstrated how the coupled transverse reinforcement,
provided by stirrups and steel fibers, is an optimum solution both in
terms of structural performance and costs.
Keywords: cracking; experimental tests; fiber-reinforced concrete; nonlinear
finite element model analysis; shear.
INTRODUCTION
The brittle failure mode of reinforced concrete (RC)
beams subjected to high levels of shear loads remains a
major concern of structural designers. The classic transverse
reinforcement system consists of steel stirrups placed
squarely to the longitudinal axis of a beam and is designed
to avoid a premature shear collapse. In many cases, high
shear loads require the use of a large amount of stirrups,
causing an increase in costs and difficulties in the practical
realization of structural members.
Many reports published during the last few decades1-4 have
considered the option of adding fibers to the concrete
mixture to improve the mechanical capacity of the material,
providing an increase in structural member shear strength.
In members subjected to shear and flexure, the presence of
fibers in the mixture permits a partial or total replacement of
the stirrups.5 The fibers provide a considerable contribution
to stress transfer between different parts of the cracked
matrix, arresting crack propagation. Tensile stress is shared
by the fiber and matrix in tension until the matrix cracks, and
then the total stress is progressively transferred to the fibers
by the bond stress between the two components.6
A suitable amount of fibers influences the mechanical
properties of concrete, leading to a considerable ductile
branch of the constitutive curve under uniaxial compression,
direct shear and, especially, direct tension, modifying the
member collapse mechanism in all failure modes.
To exploit the increase in performance obtained by adding
steel fibers to the mixture, reliable models for the prediction
of the entire response of SFRC members under axial,
bending, and shear loads are required.
ACI Structural Journal/January-February 2012
TECHNICAL PAPER
The modified compression field theory (MCFT)7 and
the disturbed stress field model (DSFM)8 are well-known
analytical models for the prediction of the nonlinear
behavior of RC structures, which are especially subjected
to shear and torsion loads. They are essentially smeared,
rotating crack models, where the cracked concrete is
treated as an orthotropic material with unique stress-strain
characteristics, depending on the geometry and amount
of reinforcement. The constitutive laws used in these
models were developed on the basis of results obtained by
a series of tests on RC panels subjected to different load
combinations performed to describe the behavior of cracked
RC in compression and tension.7
The MCFT assumes that the rotations of principal stress and
strain fields are coincident. In slightly reinforced elements,
this assumption is quite different from observed behavior,
and the rotation of the principal stress field lags behind the
rotation of the principal strain field with non-negligible slips
along the crack surface. Thus, the DSFM was proposed to
extend the MCFT, aiming at taking into account the crack
shear slip strains in an explicit way.7
By contrast, few studies are available that reproduce the
complete load-deflection curve of SFRC beams with9 and
without10,11 stirrups. These studies show that an accurate
representation of the tension-softening behavior of SFRC
is the main necessary tool to extend MCFT to the case of
fibrous concrete.
In this study, the MCFT analytical model was suitably
adapted for high-strength SFRC (HS-SFRC) elements,
introducing several modifications to take into account the
compression- and tension-softening behavior of fibrous
concrete. The former plays a key role in reproducing the
ductility of fibrous concrete beams with stirrups under
transverse loads, and it was herein well reproduced by
the analytical constitutive model proposed by Nataraja et
al.12 The latter primarily influences the behavior of structural
elements with poor shear reinforcement. Fibers improve the
toughness of the concrete matrix and their effects can be
modeled suitably by changing the residual tensile strength
of the SFRC.13 The toughness of the composite allows for
crack width containment all over the depth of the beam,
leading to a well-distributed crack pattern without an early
localization of any shear-critical crack. Several models have
been proposed in the literature to reproduce the postcracking
tensile behavior of SFRC, mostly based on complex fracture
ACI Structural Journal, V. 109, No. 1, January-February 2012.
MS No. S-2009-360.R3 received April 8, 2011, and reviewed under Institute
publication policies. Copyright © 2012, American Concrete Institute. All rights
reserved, including the making of copies unless permission is obtained from the
copyright proprietors. Pertinent discussion including author’s closure, if any, will be
published in the November-December 2012 ACI Structural Journal if the discussion
is received by July 1, 2012.
53
ACI member Nino Spinella received his BSc and PhD in structural engineering from
the University of Messina, Messina, Italy, in 2004 and 2008, respectively. His research
interests include reinforcement of concrete columns with fiber-reinforced polymer,
shear behavior of slightly transverse reinforced beams, high-performance concrete,
fiber-reinforced concrete, and nonlinear analyses of reinforced concrete structures.
Piero Colajanni is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering
at the University of Messina, where he teaches structural design and analysis and
design of buildings in seismic areas. He received his PhD in structural engineering
from the University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy. His research interests include analysis,
design, and retrofitting of buildings in seismic areas; seismic dynamics; design of plain
and fiber-reinforced concrete elements; and the use of fiber-reinforced polymer for
concrete element retrofitting.
Lidia La Mendola is a Full Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and
Aerospace Engineering at the University of Palermo, where she teaches structural
design and structural problems in heritage buildings. She is also Chair of the PhD
Board in Structural Engineering. Her research interests include seismic behavior of
reinforced concrete and masonry buildings, theoretical and experimental investiga-
tion on the behavior of fiber-reinforced concrete elements, and reinforcing of masonry
structural elements with fiber-reinforced polymer.
mechanic theories or derived from experimental tests on
small notched beams, but few analytical relationships were
based on rational approaches and were therefore easily
implemented in a computer code at the same time.
In this study, the constitutive law adopted for tensile
fibrous concrete was based on a robust analytical model that
provided the bridging tension stress across the crack due
to the fibers in terms of crack width w. As the MCFT is a
smeared model, the analytical tensile constitutive law was
coupled with an appropriate variable characteristic length to
reduce crack width to tensile strain and estimate crack slip
strains as accurately as possible.
At the same time, an experimental program was performed
by four-point bending tests on medium-scale HS-SFRC
beams, investigating the influence of different amounts of
fiber and stirrup percentages on the strength and failure
mechanism of the beams. Two different sets of beams
made of plain and fibrous high-strength concrete (HSC),
with varying percentages of fibers and/or stirrups as shear
reinforcement, were tested.
The experimental behavior was reproduced by two-
dimensional (2-D) nonlinear finite element analyses carried
out by adopting a nonlinear finite element program (NLFEP)
developed at the University of Toronto, called VecTor214 and
based on the MCFT and DSFM, suitably modified to investi-
gate the response of HS-SFRC structural elements subjected
to different load conditions. Furthermore, discussion and
validation of the analytical extensions introduced in the
theoretical model were performed by a favorable compar-
ison against several tests collected in the literature.15-17
RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
This study extends the MCFT-based procedures to repro-
duce the behavior of HS-SFRC beams under predominant
shear, investigating the possibility of partially replacing stir-
rups with steel fibers as transverse reinforcement.
An accurate representation of the complete response of
experimental four-point bending tests on HS-SFRC beams,
cast with different percentages of steel fibers and/or stirrups
as transverse reinforcement under shear, was obtained by
numerical analyses, also predicting the crack patterns of
HS-SFRC beams.
The modeling of the softening behavior of HS-SFRC
in tension and compression was carried out with this aim,
implementing several updates of the base theory and some
54
rational and empirical constitutive laws into the finite
element code.
EXTENSION OF MCFT-BASED PROCEDURE TO
HS-SFRC ELEMENTS
To extend the MCFT and DSFM theories to HS-SFRC
structures, one of the most important issues is to update the
analytical constitutive relationships originally proposed for
RC members to the case of fibrous concrete, aiming at taking
into account the positive effect of fibers on the mechanical
capacity of the material.
Modeling of tensile crack behavior of SFRC
For shear-critical beams, and more in general when only
fibers are present as transverse reinforcement, the struc-
tural element response is mainly governed by the tensile
constitutive behavior of the composite. In the MCFT7 and
DSFM8 theories, the stress-strain relationships derived from
the direct tensile test were used to characterize plain concrete
behavior under tensile stress. The VecTor2 finite element
code, which includes the abovementioned theories, imple-
ments some simple linear or bilinear laws, which depend on
tensile strength and energy fracture values.14
According to the DSFM,8 the constitutive behavior of
material in direct tension was assumed to be linear up to
the tensile strength. To reproduce the response of an HSC
specimen, an analytical formulation proposed by Bentz18 and
obtained by a numerical regression on a huge database was
used to link the tensile strength value f ct′ to the compressive
strength value fc′ of plain concrete: f ct′ = 0.45fc′0.4 in MPa.
Beyond the peak value of tensile strength, HSC shows a
very limited capacity to resist tensile stress. The simple linear
law suggested by the DSFM8 was adopted to analytically
represent the cracking behavior in the direct tension of plain
concrete. Unlike the DSFM,8 the tensile strength is herein
expressed as a function of the crack opening displacement w
as follows
s c ( w) = fct′ (1 − w wts ) (1)
where wts = 2Gc/f ct′ is the crack opening when the tensile
stress sc = 0; and Gc is the fracture energy of plain concrete
evaluated as proposed by Marti et al.19 (Gc = 0.00375fc′2/3ag1/4
in N/mm, where ag is the maximum aggregate size in mm).
On the contrary, for fibrous concrete subjected to direct
tension, the elastic branch of the stress-strain curve shows a
slightly higher tensile strength value than plain concrete. This
limited increase in tensile strength is effective in delaying
the cracking of material, however, helping the beam to resist
high load levels.
With the aim of reproducing the influence of constitutive
fibrous concrete behavior in direct tension on specimens
subjected to transverse loads, the increase of tensile strength
due to fibers was calculated by the simple mixture rule20
fctf′ = Ecc e cr (2)
with fctf′ and Ecc = Ec(1 – Vf) + h0hlEfVf being the tensile
strength and elasticity modulus of SFRC in direct tension;
ACI Structural Journal/January-February 2012
Ef and Ec the modulus of elasticity of fibers and concrete,
respectively; Vf the volumetric ratio of fiber; h0 the orien-
tation factor and hl the length factor; and ecr = emp +
h0hlVf (efy – emp) the first crack strain of fibrous concrete
evaluated as the sum of the first matrix crack strain emp and
a strain part h0hlVf (efy – emp) due to the presence of fiber and
influenced by the yield strain of steel fiber efy.
Several analytical models20,21 have been proposed in
literature for the post-peak curve of SFRC specimens
subjected to direct tension.
Thus, several numerical analyses were performed using the
VecTor222 code to compare the effectiveness of the different
models in reproducing the experimental response of shear-
critical beams. All of the analytical models considered for
reproducing the constitutive tensile behavior of the composite
were based on an experimental or theoretical pullout curve
of a single fiber embedded in the concrete matrix, which is
generalized to the case of more random fibers distributed on
a crack plane area.
The model known as the variable engagement model21
(VEM06) proved to be the most effective. It is also by far
the most rational approach. VEM06 assumes that fibers are
mechanically anchored to the matrix and some slips between
the fiber and matrix must occur before the anchorage is
engaged. The crack opening w for which the fiber becomes
effectively engaged in the tension-carrying mechanism is
termed the engagement length, and it is evaluated as we =
atan(qf), where a = df /3.5 (df is the fiber diameter in mm)
is a material parameter and qf is the fiber inclination angle
with respect to the crack plane. Rearranging the equations
on the basis of VEM06, the bridging tension stress across the
crack provided by nonfractured fibers was evaluated as sf (w)
= KfVf (lf /df)tf, with lf being the fiber length, df the diameter of
the fiber, tf the mean value of the bond fiber-matrix interface
strength, and Kf the global orientation factor defined as follows
4 ϑcrit
( )
2
K f ( w) = 2 ∫ 
max la ,crit − w,0  d ϑ

(3)
πl f 0
where qcrit = tan–1(w/a); and la,crit is the critical embedment
length for a fracture given by la,crit = min(lc/2 + we,lf /2),
where lc = (df /2)(sfu/tf) is the critical length obtained by a
simple equilibrium equation written along the longitudinal
axis of a fiber at the maximum embedment depth lf /2, using
the total force of full bond stress in the fiber. For the case of
lc < lf, the model does not provide the fiber fracture; thus,
Eq. (3) reduces to the simpler form as follows
2 executed on small-scale prismatic specimens. It is not easy
tan −1 ( w a )  2 w 
K f ( w) = 1 −  (4)
π  lf 
Therefore, besides the geometric characteristics of the
fibers, the ratio between the tensile strength of fiber sfu and
the bond fiber-matrix interface strength tf rules the fracture
of fiber. The tf value is calculated as a function of the matrix
tensile strength fct, the shape of the fiber (straight or hooked),
and the type of matrix (concrete or mortar).21 For the typical
case of the concrete matrix and hooked fiber, tf = 2.5fct.
ACI Structural Journal/January-February 2012
Fig. 1—Analytical uniaxial tensile behavior for plain and
fibrous concrete.
Given the tension stress due to fibers, the total tensile
stress of fibrous concrete was evaluated as the simple sum
of stress contributions provided by the matrix and fibers,
respectively: scf (w) = sc(w) + sf (w). The contribution given
by the matrix sc(w) was herein computed from the linear
law (Eq. (1)) introduced previously (Fig. 1), whereas the
contribution of the fiber was calculated from the general
formulation of VEM06.
Treating the fiber contribution in tension as an addendum
to that of the matrix allows for an easy calculation but, in
particular cases, this approach neglects some significant
aspects of matrix-fiber interaction. As a consequence, a key
role is played by a proper estimation of the bond fiber-matrix
interface strength tf, which depends on the matrix type and
not just on the fiber characteristics.
VecTor2 implements a smeared cracking model. Therefore,
the tensile stress-opening crack constitutive relationship,
evaluated with Eq. (1) and with VEM06 for plain and fibrous
concrete, respectively, was reduced to a tensile stress-strain law
by dividing the crack opening by an appropriate characteristic
length. Usually, this parameter is assumed as a constant value
strongly dependent on the fracture energy of the material.
However, well-acknowledged procedures are not yet available
for calculating the characteristic length in the presence of
fibrous reinforcement.2 Minelli and Vecchio10 calibrated
the constant characteristic length value for fibrous concrete,
equaling the first post-peak branch of the fc-ec tensile curve of
plain concrete suggested by CEB-FIP,23 to the first branch of
a cohesive law for the fibrous concrete curve. The latter was
obtained by ensuring that the result of numerical analyses,
performed by using a finite element software based on a
discrete crack approach and adopting a cohesive law, fit some
experimental results provided by four-point bending tests
to evaluate the characteristic length for fibrous concrete with
mechanical characteristics, however, which are different from
those used by Minelli and Vecchio.10 Experimental tests and
numerical analyses are always needed.
In this study, the characteristic length was assumed as
a variable value equal to the average crack spacing Sq =
1/(sinq/Sx + cosq/Sy), where Sx and Sy are the indicators of the
crack control characteristics of the reinforcement placed in
the x- and y-directions,7 respectively, and q is the inclination
of the diagonal compressive field stress. Thus, the principal
tensile strain obtained was ect = w/Sq. For plain concrete, Sx
55

Fig. 2—Uniaxial compressive behavior for: (a) plain; and
(b) fibrous HSC.
and Sy may be calculated by the expression proposed in the
CEB-FIP code,23 and their values depend on the quantity of
longitudinal and transverse steel reinforcement and cover
thickness. Hence, the average crack spacing and, accordingly,
the characteristic length value assumed, depended on the
diagonal compressive stress angle at the generic load-step
value and on the reinforcement pattern.
For the numerical analyses of the response of specimens
with only flexural steel reinforcement and no stirrups, the
average crack spacing expression was reduced to Sq =
Sx/sinq. As proposed by Bentz et al.,24 only for shear-critical
beams, Sx was replaced by the equivalent spacing Sxe for
plain concrete members
 35 
Sxe = 0.9d   (in mm) (5)
 ag + 16 
where d is the effective depth of the beam; and ag is the
maximum dimension of the aggregate (set equal to zero
for concrete with a compressive strength over 70 MPa
[10.15 ksi]).
When fibers were present in the mixture, the crack
opening and average crack spacing were still reduced.
Aiming at taking into account this experimental evidence,
the recommendations of RILEM TC162-TDF13 suggest
using a semi-empirical method to calculate the average crack
spacing of fibrous concrete, which was based on the method
proposed by Eurocode 2,25 and the beneficial effects due to
fibers were only considered by the geometrical term ks/(lf /df)
≤ 1, with ks being a reference value for the fiber aspect ratio
lf /df originally set to 50. In addition, recent experimental
and theoretical studies performed by Moffat26 on the fibrous
concrete cracking reinforced with reinforcing bars relate the
ability of fibers to bridge tensions across the crack to the
ratio g = fctu′ /fctf′ between the residual strength of concrete
after cracking fctu′ and the tensile strength of first cracking
fctf′ . The crack spacing of the reinforced fibrous concrete can
be obtained by further reducing the analogous parameter of
plain concrete by a term equal to (1 – g) < 1. Setting27 the
value of g = 0.50, the ks value can be assumed as equal to half
of the original value proposed by RILEM TC162-TDF.13
These reductive terms were herein introduced in the
analytical relationship of equivalent spacing (Eq. (5)),
obtaining a simple formulation to evaluate the equivalent
spacing for steel fibrous concrete beams without stirrups
56
 25 
Sxef = Sxe   ≤ Sxe (in mm) (6)
 l f d f 
Thus, the characteristic length adopted for the numerical
analyses changes as a function of the inclination of the
compressive stress field and, consequently, of the load level.
Moreover, it depends on the geometrical characteristics of
the beam cross section, maximum aggregate size, and fiber
aspect ratio. All of these parameters govern the size effect,
which plays an important role in the behavior of beams
subjected to transverse loads and with large unreinforced
web portions.
The constitutive tensile stress-strain laws described
previously (that is, the simple linear law and VEM06)
were implemented into VecTor2, modifying the numerical
procedure to use a characteristic length variable as a function
of the load level as well.
Modeling of compressive post-peak behavior of SFRC
In several experimental tests,5 a different mechanical
behavior was observed when an adequate amount of trans-
verse steel reinforcement was present. Shear cracks were
sewed by stirrups and the deterioration of the strut was
consequently reduced. Thus, stirrups were able to modify
the failure mode from brittle shear to ductile flexure.
Hence, an important issue is to correctly represent the
softening branch of the uniaxial compressive stress-strain
curve of SFRC, which also helps the concrete strut to sustain
high load levels in correspondence to large strains.
The entire full curves obtained from the compressive tests,
carried out on the plain and fibrous concrete employed to
cast the specimens described in the next section, are shown
in Fig. 2. The aim was to model the uniaxial compressive
stress-strain curve of SFRC.
It can be observed that fibrous concrete behavior in compres-
sion was similar to that of plain concrete until the peak stress
value fc′ was reached, and it can be modeled by using constitu-
tive laws available in VecTor214 for HSC (Fig. 2(a)). The post-
peak branch of the stress-strain curve in compression of SFRC
(Fig. 2(b)) showed a smaller slope of the post-peak branch
than the plain concrete curve. Therefore, this branch of the
fc-ec curve was modeled using the formulation proposed by
Nataraja et al.12 (NDG99) for fibrous concrete
fc b (ec e0 )
= (7)
fc′ b − 1 + ( e c e 0 )b
where the material parameter b = 0.5811 + 1.93RI–0.7406;
the index by weight of hooked steel fibers is RI = Wf (lf /df);
and Wf is the ratio by weight of fibers. Equation (7) was
proposed12 for normal-strength concrete (NSC) (up to 50 MPa
[7.25 ksi]) with crimped fibers. However, it was implemented
in the analytical model because it reproduces the post-peak
branch of the experimental curves obtained by compression
tests presented herein with appreciable agreement (Fig. 2(b)).
The principal compressive stress in the concrete, fc, is a
function of the compressive and coexisting tensile strain,7 and
this influence—namely, compression softening—is taken
into account in the DSFM by a reduction factor.8 Fibers
reduce damage thanks to control of the transverse tensile
strains. Furthermore, they allow the sustainment of high
compressive stress levels when compressive strains are
ACI Structural Journal/January-February 2012
elevated. A rigorous approach would require a redefinition of
the reduction factor due to the different level of compression
softening induced by fibers, but this issue would require a
large number of experimental tests and extensive research
beyond the scope of this paper; thus, in the model, the
original formulation of compression softening for fibrous
concrete was also adopted.
Experimental PROGRAM
The behavior of a set of six plain concrete and six
SFRC beams (Fig. 3) was investigated by four-point
bending tests.28 The tests were designed to investigate the
Fig. 3—Geometry and reinforcement details: Specimen R1 =
2 F20 mm; Specimen R2 = 2 F10 mm; and Specimen R3 =
F6 mm. (Note: Dimensions in mm [in.]).
contribution to shear strength and ductility due to fibers and
the possibility of partially replacing the stirrups. Thus, the
geometrical longitudinal reinforcement rl was chosen to
avoid a premature flexural collapse of the beam and the bars
were hooked upward beyond the supports to preclude the
possibility of anchorage failure. Two different values of the
shear span-to-effective depth ratio (a/d) were chosen for the
experimental tests, namely a/d = 2.8 (A series) and a/d = 2.0
(B series). The first is greater than and the second is less than
the value a/d = 2.5, which is known to be the critical value
for beams without stirrups.5 Thus, the former a/d was chosen
to obtain a shear failure for diagonal tension, where the
beam mechanism and tensile strength of the material govern
the failure mode. The latter was chosen to obtain a shear-
compression failure, governed by arch mechanism. Thus,
the response mainly depends on the effective compression
strength of the concrete.
The shear reinforcement of the beam was realized with
stirrups with two different geometrical ratios rw and/or
hooked-end steel fibers with a length lf of 30 mm (1.2 in.) and
a nominal diameter df of 0.55 mm (0.02 in.) (the aspect ratio
is lf /df = 54.5). The geometrical characteristics of the fibers
were chosen depending on the specimen size, as suggested
by the ACI guidelines.6 Each beam was marked, as shown
in Table 1(a). Except for the a/d, only the type and quantity
of transverse reinforcement (steel fibers and stirrups) were
varied, avoiding variations in other factors (that is, geometry,
plain concrete mixture properties, or prestressing) that would
make comprehension of the results more complex.
All specimens were cast with HSC made with
Type 42.5 portland cement, natural sand, and aggre-
gate with 10 mm (0.4 in.) as maximum size ag, used in
the mixture proportions 1:1.9:2.3 by weight. Elements
made of HS-SFRC were constructed, adding 78.6 kg/m3
(0.0028 lb/in.3) (Vf = 1%) hooked-end steel fibers into the
mixture. Because the addition of fibers reduces the work-

Table 1—(a) Summary of experimental program (A for a/d = 2.8 and B for a/d = 2.0); (b) properties of concrete
mixtures; (c) properties of material models; and (d) summary of HSC-SFRC tests and numerical results
(a) Summary of experimental program (A for a/d = 2.8 and B for a/d = 2.0)
Code A00/B00 A01/B01 A02/B02 A10/B10 A11/B11 A12/B12
V f, % 0 0 0 1.00 1.00 1.00
rw, % 0 0.188 0.628 0 0.188 0.628

(b) Properties of concrete mixtures

Vf, % fc′, MPa (ksi) e0 × 1000 Ec, MPa (ksi) fsp, MPa (ksi)
0 75.75 (11.0) 2.34 37,998 (5511) 4.19 (0.6)
1 80.04 (11.6) 2.83 35,982 (5219) 8.34 (1.2)

(c) Properties of material models

Vf, % fct′, MPa (ksi) tf, MPa (ksi) ecr × 1000 Ecc, MPa (ksi) fctf′ , MPa (ksi) Sxef, mm (in.)
0 2.54 (0.4) — 0.067 37,998 (5511) — 431.2 (17.0)
1 — 6.35 (0.9) 0.078 38,037 (5517) 2.96 (0.4) 197.6 (7.8)

(d) Summary of HSC-SFRC tests and numerical results

Code A10 A11 A12 B10 B11 B12
Pu,exp, kN (kip) 227.5 (51.1) 249.3 (56.0) 254.0 (57.1) 281.6 (63.3) 356.4 (80.1) 371.9 (83.6)
du,exp, mm (in.) 15.0 (0.59) 48.7 (1.92) 46.9 (1.85) 15.0 (0.59) 48.2 (1.90) 44.4 (1.75)
Pu,exp/Pu,num 1.10 0.99 0.90 0.99 0.96 1.01
du,exp/du,num 1.12 0.68 0.92 1.00 0.95 0.61

ACI Structural Journal/January-February 2012 57


Fig. 4—Experimental and numerical load-displacement
curves for shear-critical beams (A00, A10, B00, and B10).
ability of the fresh mixture, a high-range water-reducing
admixture was added to the mixtures.
The mechanical properties of the composite under compres-
sion were obtained by carrying out four compressive tests on
displacement control for each type of concrete mixture using
standard cylindrical specimens with a diameter of 100 mm
(3.9 in.) and a height of 200 mm (7.9 in.). The average values
of the key parameters of the compressive stress-strain curve,
namely peak strength fc′, corresponding strain value e0, and
initial tangent modulus Ec were evaluated and are presented
in Table 1(b). The addition of 1% of fibers did not change the
compressive peak strength with respect to the value for plain
concrete, but it allowed for a more gradual microcracking
with a consequent increment of the e0 value and ductility in
the post-peak phase (Fig. 2).
In Table 1(b), the mean values of the maximum tension
splitting stress fsp are reported. Two splitting tests for each
type of mixture were carried out on cylindrical specimens
(same size as in the compression tests), according to the UNI
EN 12390-6:2002 recommendation.
Finally, to characterize the steel of the deformed bars used
for the longitudinal and transverse reinforcements, three
direct tension tests on a specimen 600 mm (23.6 in.) long
were carried out for each type of bar. The characteristic
average values of the steel in terms of yield stress and elastic
modulus were estimated as follows: fyl = 599 MPa (87 ksi)
and Esl = 179 GPa (25,962 ksi) for the longitudinal bars, and
fyw = 473 MPa (63 ksi) and Esw = 206 GPa (29,878 ksi) for
the transverse bars.
Four-point bending tests were performed by imposing a
gradually increasing displacement at the rate of 0.2 mm/min
(0.008 in./min), measuring the displacements with five linear
variable displacement transducers (LVDTs): four placed
in the section corresponding to the supports (two for each
support) and another to the midspan section in the lower
part of the beam. The effective deflection of the beam at
each displacement step was obtained by means of the value
recorded at the midspan section decreased by the mean value
of the displacements at the supports of the specimen.
EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL RESULTS
This section focuses on the comparison of the experimental
and numerical results. The latter were carried out with the
VecTor214 NLFEP based on the MCFT and DSFM. The
58
program was suitably changed in several parts, implementing
the modifications introduced in the theoretical models to
take the constitutive behavior of HS-SFRC into account.
The tensile constitutive law VEM06 was introduced in the
program and crack width and tensile strain were related by a
variable characteristic length. For beams without stirrups, it
was calculated as Sq = Sxef /sinq, where the equivalent spacing
Sxef is evaluated by Eq. (6). Furthermore, the compressive
constitutive law (NDG99) expressed in Eq. (7) was
implemented in the software to model the post-peak branch
of the compressive curve. A 2-D plane stress model, suitably
restrained to the symmetrical axis, was developed. The mesh
was composed of four-node rectangular elements 25.0 x
31.25 mm (0.98 x 1.23 in.) in size with a uniform thickness
to represent the concrete and two-node truss bars with a
uniform cross-sectional area for reinforcement.10 The finite
element size was chosen by adopting the cover as the vertical
size and a ratio between the sides of the rectangular element
close to 1. Significant sliding between the reinforcing bar
and concrete was not observed during the tests; perfect steel-
concrete bond was therefore assumed.10
According to the experimental procedure, the support and
point loads were modeled as concentrated nodal actions
on steel plates with a thickness of 25 mm (0.98 in.) fully
connected to the concrete.
Numerical analyses were performed, assigning two
different load cases: a static self-weight on all concrete
elements and a monotonical increasing displacement,
coaxial to the effective transverse load, on the node located
in the middle of the steel transfer plate. The total load was
computed as twice the reaction force at the support. Thus, the
displacement-controlled procedures were able to reproduce
the post-peak branch of the load-displacement curve.
In Table 1(c), the material model parameters assumed for
the numerical analyses are reported. The tensile strength of
plain concrete was calculated as suggested by Bentz18 (fct′ =
2.54 MPa [0.37 ksi]); thus, the bond strength is tf = 2.5fct′ =
6.35 MPa (0.92 ksi). By the mixture rule, the tensile strain
at the first crack of fibrous concrete ecr = 0.078 (×1000)
was obtained, whereas the modulus of composite was Ecc =
38,037 MPa (5516.8 ksi); the tensile strength of SFRC fctf′ =
2.96 MPa (0.43 ksi) was assumed for the analytical model.
According to Eq. (5) and (6), and setting ag = 0 for concrete
with a compressive strength over 70 MPa (10.15 ksi), the
equivalent spacing was equal to 431.2 and 196.7 mm
(16.98 and 7.78 in.) for plain (Sxe) and fibrous (Sxef) concrete
shear-critical beams, respectively.
Figure 4(a) through (d) illustrates the load-displacement
experimental and numerical curves for the beams—with and
without fibers. In all cases, the displacement was measured
at the midspan section.
The numerical analyses were carried out by introducing the
modifications of the model herein proposed and previously
described, one after another, and each corresponding curve
is plotted. First, the tensile strength of SFRC fctf′ was used
(Curve N1). Then, the constitutive tensile law VEM06 was
used in the model (Curve N2). Afterward, the equivalent
spacing was calculated for fibrous concrete, as given in
Eq. (6) (Curve N3) and, finally, the post-peak compressive
constitutive law for SFRC was adopted (Curve N4). Except
for these modifications, all other material modeling was
done using the default options of the NLFEP.
As expected, a sudden brittle failure was observed for
plain concrete beams (A00 and B00) with a predominant
ACI Structural Journal/January-February 2012
 Fig. 5—Experimental and numerical crack pattern at failure for specimens: (a) A10 and
B10; and (b) A11 and B11.
shear crack due to the low-level tensile strength of plain
concrete. Moreover, the slope of the numerical curves was
slightly more than the slope of the experimental curves,
particularly at the beginning of the nonlinear branch, most
likely due to the effect of tension-stiffening modeling, which
plays an important role at the onset of cracking.
The comparison of the experimental curves showed that
SFRC Beams A10 and B10 (Vf = 1%) reached an ultimate
load greater than the corresponding plain concrete beams by
158% and 96%, respectively. The presence of fibers helped
the concrete to limit the growth of cracks; thus, the effective
area of the compression strut crossed by tensile stress was
larger for fibrous concrete than for plain concrete. The load
capacity and ultimate deflection proved to be significantly
greater in fibrous beams than the values recorded for the
analogous plain concrete members.
Despite the fact that the addition of a substantial amount
of fibers to the concrete mixture provided an increase in
terms of beam shear strength, it was still not able to change
the collapse mechanism of the shear-critical beams. The
failure mechanism of the SFRC specimens (A10 and B10)
was characterized by a wide diagonal crack, which extended
from the load point to the support (Fig. 5(a)). However, the
collapse mechanism of the SFRC beams was more controlled
due to the capacity of fibers to bridge the tensile stress across
crack sides with a diffused crack pattern, and a large overall
failure displacement was observed.
The numerical curves show the ability of the DSFM to capture
the stiffness of those specimens and to estimate load capacity
and ultimate deflection, particularly for Deep Beam B10.
The introduction of fctf′ was not sufficient to reach the
load capacity of the SFRC beams observed during tests
(Curve N1). It was necessary to use the tension-softening
law VEM06, coupled with the variable characteristic length
to obtain a good reproduction of the experimental results
(Curve N2). The use of the equivalent spacing formula
(Eq. (6)) was fundamental to avoid overestimation of the
load bearing of Beam B10 (Curve N3). In fact, the default
formulation adopted in VecTor2 to set the equivalent spacing
ACI Structural Journal/January-February 2012
provides less conservative values (and then overestimated
strength values) for beams without stirrups than those
obtained with the proposed formula (Eq. (6)). As expected,
for these SFRC beams without stirrups, the use of the
compressive constitutive law for fibrous concrete (NDG99)
does not lead to significant changes in the numerical results;
thus, Curve N4 is not plotted in these graphs. The tension-
softening law adopted (VEM06), coupled with the variable
characteristic length, represented a good extension of the
original formulation of the DSFM to reproduce the strength
contribution of fibers to the shear capacity of SFRC beams.
Furthermore, the DSFM adopts a relationship based
on Walraven’s experimental work8 to quantify the slip
displacements along a crack surface, and this formulation
is a function of the mechanical characteristics of concrete
and crack width w. Thus, assuming an equivalent spacing
for fibrous concrete Sxef smaller than the corresponding value
for plain concrete Sxe, the ability of fibers to contain both
the average tensile deformation of the material and the local
slippage along the crack was taken into account.
Figure 5(a) illustrates the crack patterns at the end of
the test and the corresponding crack patterns obtained
by numerical analyses for Specimens A10 and B10. They
exhibited a shear failure with a predominant crack and
some secondary cracks, both reproduced by the analytical
model, with good accuracy. The crack pattern observed
in the performed tests and numerical analyses (Curve N3
[Fig. 4(b)]) shows that, despite the fact that the addition of
steel fibers to the concrete mixture was able to provide an
increase in the strength of the specimens, the use of only
fibrous reinforcement was not able to shift the collapse mode
from brittle for shear to ductile.
The use of large amounts of fibers was found to be
necessary to reach the full flexural capacity of the beam
when transverse reinforcement is missing,5 but it would
have caused technical and handling problems during
concrete casting related to fiber segregation.17 Conversely,
the addition of a suitable amount of steel stirrups used as
transverse reinforcement, besides the increase in the shear
59

Fig. 6—Experimental and numerical load-displacement curves
for beam with stirrups of: (a) A series; and (b) B series.
strength of the specimen, was able to modify the failure
mode from brittle for shear to ductile for flexure. For these
beams, the average crack spacing can be effectively modeled
by the formulation proposed by CEB-FIP,23 as provided by
default in VecTor2.14
Figure 6(a) (Quadrant a1) and (b) (Quadrant b1) shows
that when a small percentage of stirrups are used, failure
is still governed by shear, and small ultimate deformations
were recorded.
When fibers are added to the mixture to cast beams with a
small amount of transverse reinforcement (Beams A11 and
B11, Fig. 6(a) [Quadrant a2] and (b) [Quadrant b2]), the
failure mode is turned from shear to flexure, and a very large
increase of the ultimate midspan deflection is recorded,
coupled with a smaller increment in the beam load capacity.
For example, the addition of 78.6 kg/m3 (0.0028 lb/in.3)
of fibers to a beam with a geometrical ratio of stirrups
equal to 0.188% proved an increment of load capacity of
Beam B11 by 17%, compared to the value observed for
Beam B01. However, the ultimate deflection was increased
by 130%. These results are considerable, as they demonstrate
60
the efficiency of coupled reinforcement provided by fibers
and stirrups.
The numerical model was able to capture the post-peak
branch with good precision. In this case, a key role was
played by the compressive post-peak constitutive behavior
of the material and, consequently, by the analytical law
introduced into the numerical model (Curve N4). The ductile
phase of the beam under transverse loads was characterized
by a high level of compressive strains, with fibers that help
the concrete to sustain considerable levels of compressive
stresses in the biaxial stress field. Moreover, the rotating
crack approach adopted by the analytical models leads to
a good correlation between the experimental and numerical
results (Table 1(d)), as it was able to capture the progressive
rotation of the stress field.
Figure 5(a) and (b) illustrates the numerical crack patterns
for fibrous beams and an appreciable agreement is seen
between these and the experimental pattern. The NLFEP
was able to reproduce the flexural failure mode of fibrous
beams with stirrups (A11 and B11), characterized by vertical
cracks in the midspan beam zone.
Reducing the spacing of stirrups from 200 mm (7.9 in.)
(rw = 0.188%) to 60 mm (2.4 in.) (rw = 0.628%), the large
amount of transverse steel reinforcement percentage allowed
for an increase of the shear capacity of the specimen (162%
and 257% for Beams A01 and A02 and B01 and B02,
respectively) and especially to obtain the flexural collapse
of beams cast with plain concrete (A02 and B02), with a
large ductile branch of the load-displacement curve (Fig. 6
[Quadrants a3 and b3]). The numerical curves obtained with
the analytical model, as modified herein, reproduce the
experimental test result with sufficient accuracy, slightly
overestimating the slope of the ascending branch (0.86 and
0.97 is the ratio err = Pu,exp /Pu,num for Beams A02 and B02,
respectively), and predicting part of the ductility of the deep
beam. When a large amount of stirrups is used, the addition
of fibers to the mixture (A12 [Fig. 6 (Quadrant a4)] and B12
[Fig. 6 (Quadrant b4)]) should permit the beam to reach
collapse with a higher displacement value than the specimens
with stirrups only as shear reinforcement, although in these
kinds of specimens, which reach the crisis for flexure, SFRC
might cause a decrease in ductility with respect to plain
concrete due to strain localization and steel rupture. In these
cases, the introduction of the residual tensile stress provided
by VEM06 becomes essential for predicting the ductility of
the beams (Curve N2), whereas the modification of the post-
peak compressive constitutive law for SFRC (Curve N4)
provides an accurate prediction of collapse displacements
for the Type A beam, whereas it overestimates the ductility
for the Type B beam (Table 1(d)).
Fibers randomly spread in the concrete mixture helped the
HS-SFRC beam with stirrups to collapse more gradually and
with a better control of deformations all over the specimen.
The experimental and numerical results (Curves N2 and
N4) showed that an optimized mixture of stirrup and fiber
percentages are needed to obtain the best performance in
terms of strength and ductility. The combined use of SFRC
and stirrups as transverse reinforcement is also economical
and feasible from a practical point of view because it allows
designers to reduce the minimum area of ordinary steel
reinforcement and facilitates casting of concrete.
ACI Structural Journal/January-February 2012
Table 2—Beams’ properties and summary of test and numerical results
N1 N2 N3 N4
bw, d, rl, Vf, fc′, Pu, fctf′ , Sxef, Pu,num, Pu,num, Pu,num, Pu,num,
Code mm mm a/d % % MPa kN MPa mm kN err kN err kN err kN err
NSF1 200 435 2.50 1.04 0.38 24.8 258 2.41 190.3 264 0.98 269 0.96 288 0.90 288 0.90
Mi05 HSF1 200 435 2.50 1.04 0.64 61.1 372 3.48 228.4 340 1.09 360 1.03 371 1.00 371 1.00
HSF2 200 435 2.50 1.04 0.64 58.3 435 3.20 140.0 332 1.31 404 1.08 398 1.09 398 1.09
B3 200 235 2.77 4.28 1.00 91.4 310 3.47 231.3 200 1.55 219 1.42 196 1.58 245 1.27
B4 200 235 2.77 4.28 1.00 93.3 363 3.97 289.2 212 1.71 200 1.81 185 1.96 185 1.96
C3 200 410 2.93 3.06 1.00 76.8 289 5.23 504.5 323 0.89 309 0.94 259 1.12 259 1.12
C7 200 410 2.93 3.06 0.50 69.3 264 3.63 110.8 265 1.00 255 1.03 350 0.75 356 0.74
N2000
C9 200 410 2.93 3.06 0.75 60.2 339 3.90 110.8 268 1.27 298 1.14 334 1.01 440 0.77
C10 200 410 2.93 3.06 0.75 75.7 292 4.21 235.4 289 1.01 313 0.93 375 0.78 421 0.69
D2 300 570 2.98 2.87 1.00 76.8 445 5.23 701.4 507 0.88 543 0.82 424 1.05 431 1.03
D4 300 570 2.98 2.87 0.75 60.2 509 3.90 154.0 454 1.12 552 0.92 649 0.78 731 0.70
B18-1b 152 381 3.43 1.96 0.75 44.8 413 2.30 211.6 274 1.51 253 1.64 261 1.58 327 1.26
B18-3d 152 381 3.43 2.67 1.50 44.9 490 2.57 211.6 320 1.53 431 1.14 432 1.13 478 1.03
B18-5a 152 381 3.43 2.67 1.00 49.2 445 2.53 144.2 336 1.32 459 0.97 438 1.02 546 0.81
B18-7a 152 381 3.43 1.96 0.75 43.3 498 2.59 144.2 286 1.74 340 1.46 375 1.33 378 1.32
B27-1b 203 610 3.50 2.06 0.75 50.8 837 2.46 338.7 442 1.89 514 1.63 455 1.84 455 1.84
DPW10
B27-2b 203 610 3.50 2.06 0.75 28.7 854 1.95 230.9 422 2.03 636 1.34 631 1.35 711 1.20
B27-3b 203 610 3.50 1.56 0.75 42.3 863 2.30 338.7 365 2.36 456 1.89 430 2.01 430 2.01
B27-4b 203 610 3.50 1.56 0.75 29.6 556 1.98 230.9 399 1.39 586 0.95 620 0.90 645 0.86
B27-5 203 610 3.50 2.06 1.50 44.4 1081 2.57 338.7 453 2.39 763 1.42 748 1.45 822 1.31
B27-6 203 610 3.50 2.06 1.50 42.8 1046 2.57 230.9 455 2.30 805 1.30 766 1.37 943 1.11
Mean 1.49 1.23 1.24 1.14
*
COV 0.32 0.26 0.31 0.34
*
COV is coefficient of variation.
Notes: 1 mm = 0.0394 in.; 1 MPa = 145 psi; 1 kN = 0.2248 kips.

Fig. 7—Experimental and numerical load-displacement curves for full-scale beams (Mi05).

EFFICIENCY OF MODEL Tests carried out by Minelli15 (Mi05), Noghabay16

A wide range of experimental results on shear in FRC
elements are available in literature,29 and most of these have
been obtained by performing tests on small-scale beams.
The modifications proposed herein to extend the MCFT to
the case of fibrous beams have been validated by the results
of several tests carried out on small specimens.22
In shear-critical beams, however, the size effect plays a
primary role; thus, the model was also used to analyze tests
on full-scale specimens.
(N2000), and Dinh et al.17 (DPW10) were considered.
In Table 2, beam properties and a summary of tests and
numerical results are listed. All beams were tested under
a monotonically increased concentrated load with an a/d
equal to or greater than 2.5 to have a prevalent beam action
contribute to shear strength.
In Fig. 7, the experimental and numerical results for
Mi05 beams are shown. Specimen NSC1-FRC1 was cast
with NSC (fc′ = 24.8 MPa [3.6 ksi]) and 0.38% of volumetric

ACI Structural Journal/January-February 2012 61

percentage Vf of a hooked normal-strength steel fiber. Beams
HSC-FRC1 and HSC-FRC2 were cast with HSC (fc′ ~
60.0 MPa [8.7 ksi]) and hooked regular and high-strength
steel fibers, respectively.
The brittle failure mode exhibited by Beams NSC1-FRC1 and
HSC-FRC1 was reproduced by the model, adopting each type
of previously described assumptions (N1, N2, N3, and N4).
The introduction of the tensile strength of fibrous concrete
in the numerical model had not allowed to reproduce the
experimental shear strength, whereas the use of VEM06 was
necessary to obtain an appreciable agreement in both beams.
For Specimen HSC-FRC2, cast with high-strength fiber, a
very good bond between the concrete and fiber was obtained
and the specimen exhibited a flexural failure. By contrast, the
load-displacement curve obtained by the N1 analysis predicts
a brittle failure. Introducing the different assumptions into the
numerical model (N2, N3, and N4), the numerical analyses
provide a flexural failure, as observed in the experimental
test, and the ductility branch of the load-displacement curve
was reproduced with accuracy when all the assumptions were
jointly considered (N4) (Fig. 7(c)).
The same types of numerical analyses were performed for
the other groups of experimental tests (N2000 and DPW10).
Significant properties of the numerical model and results
of analyses in terms of load-bearing capacity are summarized
in Table 2, where the parameter err is the ratio between the
observed (Pu,exp or du,exp) and the numerical (Pu,num or du,num) value.
The authors16,17 of the tests report that the crack spacing for
N2000 beams was between 100 and 180 mm (3.94 and 7.09 in.),
whereas for specimens that were part of Group DPW10, the
average horizontal spacing between cracks was approximately
equal to 0.4d. The results of numerical analyses have
provided a crack spacing greater than the experimental value
for N2000 beams. By contrast, for DPW10 beams, the values
of equivalent spacing calculated by Eq. (6) were comparable
with the experimental results.
Observing the results of the numerical analyses listed in
Table 2, the influence of VEM06, coupled with a variable
characteristic length, on the ability of the model to provide
reasonable values of shear strength is evident, reducing
the mean value of the error from 1.49 for Model N1 to
1.24 for Model N3, with acceptable values of the coefficient
of variation (COV). Although the model used for the post-
peak compressive constitutive law of SFRC is proposed for
NSC only, Curve N4 leads to a greater efficiency, especially
for specimens that exhibit a ductile failure mode, further
reducing the mean value of the error to 1.14.
CONCLUSIONS
Several extensions of the MCFT and DSFM to the case
of HS-SFRC beams subjected to transverse loads were
presented. Experimental tests on 12 fibrous concrete beams
with a different percentage of fibers and/or stirrups were
carried out, and numerical analyses were performed using
the nonlinear finite element software VecTor2,14 developed
at the University of Toronto, to validate the updates intro-
duced in the analytical models.
To capture the structural behavior of specimens, an
accurate modeling of the post-peak softening branch of the
compressive and tensile constitutive curves of fibrous concrete
was included in the MCFT-based analytical procedures,
performing several numerical analyses to reproduce the
experimental results with good accuracy, as demonstrated by
the statistical comparison reported in Tables 1(d) and 2.
62
Several modifications were introduced into the formula-
tions of the theoretical models and, consequently, imple-
mented into the source code of the VecTor214 computer
program to suitably adapt the numerical algorithm to the
constitutive behavior of fibrous concrete and reproduce the
cracking phase. In this regard, the discrete crack pattern
of the specimens was reduced to the smeared conceptual
assumption of the continuum by an appropriate variable
characteristic length for fibrous concrete elements.
The corroboration of the model showed the ability of
MCFT-based procedures with the modifications herein
introduced to accurately predict the complete response of
SFRC beams under transverse loads in terms of strength,
ductility, and crack patterns, reproducing the capacity of
both steel fibers and stirrups to modify the failure mode of
specimens from brittle for shear to ductile for flexure.
The numerical analyses and experimental tests discussed
demonstrated the capacity of fibers to partially replace the
stirrups, permitting a reduction of cost and the elimination
of some practical difficulties of placing the classic trans-
verse steel bars as shear reinforcement. A coupled use of
steel fibers and stirrups can provide an optimum mixture
to improve practical handling, increasing the shear strength
efficiency of beams.
Further research should include more experimental tests,
focusing on the influence of steel fibers on size effect and,
consequently, to validate the variable characteristic length
introduced and coupled with the analytical tension-softening
law also adopted for full-scale members. Furthermore, the
effective strength of fibrous concrete should be defined
more accurately to take into account the beneficial effects of
steel fibers in the arch-resisting mechanism of the beam, as
recently suggested.29
Thus, the analytical tool proposed in this study could
be used to further study the response of fibrous concrete
beams under transverse loads, with the aim of investigating
the influence of fibers on the failure shear mechanism and
proposing a practical design procedure to optimize partially
replacing stirrups with steel fibers as transverse reinforcement
for beams.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to thank F. J. Vecchio and the VecTor Analysis Group
at the University of Toronto for their support and assistance during the
work period of N. Spinella at the Department of Civil Engineering of the
University of Toronto.
NOTATION
ag = maximum aggregate size
b, d, h = width, effective depth, and height of beam cross section
df, lf = diameter and length of fiber
Ecc, Ef, Ec = modulus of elasticity of composite, fiber, and concrete
Esl, Esw =  m odulus of elasticity of longitudinal and transverse
reinforcement steel
fc, fc′ = principal compressive stress of concrete and peak cylinder
strength
fct′, fctf′ = direct tensile strength of plain and fibrous concrete
fsp = splitting tensile strength
fyl, fyw = yield stress of longitudinal and transverse reinforcement steel
Gc = fracture energy for plain concrete
ks = reference value for fiber aspect ratio
L = span length of beam
lc = critical length of fiber
Pu = load at failure
RI = index by weight of hooked steel fibers
Sx, Sy = indicators of crack control
Sxe, Sxef = equivalent spacing for plain and fibrous concrete
Sq = average crack spacing
s = stirrups spacing
ACI Structural Journal/January-February 2012
Vf = fiber volume percentage
Wf = ratio by weight of fibers
w = crack opening
we = engagement length and crack opening at shear failure
wts = crack opening at direct tensile failure of plain concrete
a = fibrous material parameter (VEM06)
b = fibrous material parameter (NDG99)
du = midspan displacement at failure
ec, ect = compressive and tensile strain
ecr = first crack tensile strain
e0 = compressive strain relative to peak cylinder strength
qf = fiber inclination angle
rl, rw = geometrical percentage of longitudinal and transverse
reinforcement
sc, sf, scf = tensile stress of plain concrete, fibers, and fibrous concrete
tf = mean shear stress between fiber and matrix
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63
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64 ACI Structural Journal/January-February 2012