Normative approach to the mechanical behaviour of polyolefin fibre reinforced concrete

Abstract

Polyolefin fibre reinforced concrete (PFRC) can meet the structural requirements of some of the most relevant structural concrete codes such as Model Code 1, 2], that allow the substitution of steel rebars. Such recommendations include several constitutive models to consider the contribution of the fibres, mainly based on the experience with steel fibres. An alternative is obtaining the constitutive model by means of an inverse analysis. Bending tests were accurately reproduced by using a cohesive crack approach and trilinear functions in previous references 3]. The models proposed by the codes 1] and those obtained by the authors using polyolefin fibre reinforced concrete (PFRC) are discussed in this study. Moreover, shear formulations in the standards are also compared with experimental results of push-off tests performed in PFRC. The calculations have shown that the approach taken by the Model Code 2010 underestimate the capacities of PFRC when subjected to high strain states.