Abstract

The widespread acceptance of concrete can be attributed to its unique characteristics, despite inherent drawbacks such as brittleness and weak tensile strength. The study was aimed at evaluating the optimal content and characterization of steel fibres required to impede crack propagation and enhance overall strength of concrete. The influence of critical factors like fibre content, length, diameter, and volume fraction on the performance of steel fibre reinforced concretes (SFRC) through statistical analysis of 209 experimental data. The influence of these factors on the compressive, flexural, and tensile strengths of concrete was analyzed as a function of the mean and coefficient of variation of the normalized strength values. The study found that steel fibres in concrete produced success rates of 67.9% (7.1% average strength improvement = ASI) in compressive strength, 78.5% (38.2% ASI) in flexural strength and 84.2% (23.8% ASI) in tensile strength. The study further separately examined the impact of steel fibres on both normal strength concretes (NSC) and high strength concretes (HSC). The findings indicated an overall success rate of 60% (6.97% ASI), 69.9% (38.36% ASI), and 75.6% (23.59% ASI) for compressive, flexural, and split tensile strength, respectively, in NSC. However, higher degree of strength enhancement of 74.0% (7.16% ASI), 84.8% (39.21% ASI), and 86.6% (23.51% ASI) were recorded for compressive, flexural, and split tensile strength, respectively in HSC. The research underscores the effectiveness of incorporating steel fibres as a reinforcement strategy in enhancing various strength aspects of concrete.