Effect of fibers and welded-wire reinforcements on the diaphragm behavior of composite deck slabs

Twelve large-scale composite deck slabs were instrumented and tested in a cantilever diaphragm configuration to assess the effect of fibers and welded wire mesh (WWM) on the in-plane shear capacity of composite deck slabs. The slabs were constructed with reentrant decking profile and reinforced with different types and dosages of secondary reinforcements: Conventional welded wire mesh (A142 and A98); synthetic macro-fibers (dosages of 3 kg/m(3) and 5.3 kg/m(3)); and hooked-end steel fibers with a dosage of 15 kg/m(3). The deck orientation relative to the main beam (strong and weak) was also considered in this study. Fibers and WWM were found efficient in distributing the applied load to the whole matrix, inducing multiple cracking, thereby enhancing the strength and ductility of composite deck slabs. The test results indicate that fibers increased the slab's ultimate in-plane shear capacity by up to 29% and 50% in the strong and weak directions, respectively. WWM increased the ultimate in-plane shear capacity by up to 19% in the strong direction and 9% in the weak direction. The results suggest that discrete fibers can provide comparable diaphragm behavior as that with the conventional WWM.