ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: By means of loading tests up to failure, the shear behaviour of precast pretensioned concrete beams made with steel fibre concrete and without conventional shear reinforcement is compared with the shear behaviour of a standard beam made with concrete without fibres but with stirrups as shear reinforcement. A beam made of plain concrete without shear reinforcement is used to investigate the effect of both types of shear reinforcement. The beams are designed according to Eurocode 2 and, especially for the steel fibre concrete beams, according to the guidelines of the “σ− ε− design method” recommended by the RILEM TC 162-TDF technical committee and according to information found in literature. From the test results it can be concluded that, for the beams considered, ordinary shear reinforcement can be eliminated by using steel fibre reinforced concrete. However, due attention should be paid to the mixing and casting procedures of the steel fibre concrete.
