Determination of fiber concrete toughness capacity using triangle plate method

The rapid growth of construction technology has increased the demand for more effective materials to improve post-cracking behavior of concrete. Considering the effective contribution of adding of fibers to the concrete that enhances the mechanical properties of the concrete, intensive studies have been carried out to determine and investigate post cracking behavior of fiber-reinforced concrete. One of the main benefits of including fibers in the concrete is to enhance the energy absorption capacity. For that reason, different test methods are used to determine the energy absorption of the concrete. This study is carried out to compare two different test methods which are used to determine and characterize the toughness of the fiber-reinforced concrete. Various dosages of fibers such as 0%, 0.3%, 0.6%, and 0.9% were added by volume of concrete. The toughness is determined using the Triangular Plate Method and EFNARC test method by applying the load on the specimens up to 25 mm in deflection according to the specifications of the method. Accordingly, the toughness is determined up to the specified deflection by calculating the area under the load-deflection curve. The two test methods were compared considering the absorbed energy and the variability of the results.