Numerical Modeling of Hybrid Fiber-Reinforced Concrete (HyFRC)

A model for numerical simulation of mechanical response of concrete reinforced with slipping and non slipping metallic fibers in hybrid form is presented in this paper. Constitutive law used to model plain concrete behaviour is based on plasticity and damage theories, and is capable to determine localized crack opening in three dimensional (3-D) systems. Behaviour law used for slipping metallic fibers is formulated based on effective stress carried by these fibers after when concrete matrix is cracked. A continuous approach is proposed to model the effect of addition of non-slipping metallic fibers in plain concrete. This approach considers the constitutive law of concrete matrix with increased fracture energy in tension obtained experimentally in direct tension tests on Fiber Reinforced Concrete (FRC). To simulate the mechanical behaviour of hybrid fiber-reinforced concrete (HyFRC), proposed approaches to model nonslipping metallic fibers and constitutive law of plain concrete and slipping fibers are used simultaneously without any additive equation. All the parameters used by the proposed model have physical meanings and are determined through experiments or drawn from literature. The model was implemented in Finite Element (FE) Code “CASTEM” and tested on FRC prismatic notched specimens in flexure. Model prediction showed good agreement with experimental results.