Steel Fibre Reinforcement

Summary

Steel Fibre Reinforcement - Steel Fibres can be used to replace traditional reinforcement in concrete. As with conventional reinforcement they enhance the post cracking performance of the concrete by carrying the tensile loading upon a section. However they do not enhance the tensile strength of the concrete prior to first crack occurring in a section.

Technical Information

The dosage of steel fibres varies between 30 – 50kg/m3. It is typical to expect a ground supported slab to be reinforced with 35kg/m3 and a pile supported slab to be reinforced with 45kg/m3.

Steel fibres are added to concrete either at the batching plant or on site. This is must be done in accordance with the manufactures recommendations. It is advisable that fibre washout tests are carried out to verify that the distribution of the steel fibres is acceptable.

The performance of the steel fibres should be assessed in accordance with EN 14651 Test method for metallic fibre concrete. Measuring flexural tensile strength. This test set should consist of a minimum 12 beam samples.