Time-dependent flexural behaviour of cracked steel fibre reinforced self-compacting concrete panels

In the present work the results of an extensive experimental programme that aims to study the long-term behaviour of cracked steel fibre reinforced self-compacting concrete, SFRSCC, applied in laminar structures are described and discussed. In a first stage, the influence of the initial crack opening level (w(cr) = 0.3 and 0.5 mm), applied stress level, fibre orientation/dispersion and distance from the casting point, on the flexural creep behaviour of SFRSCC was investigated. Moreover, in order to evaluate the effects of the creep phenomenon on the residual flexural strength, a series of monotonic tests were also executed. It was found that w(cr) = 0.5 mm series showed a higher creep coefficient compared to the series with a lower initial crack opening. Furthermore, the creep performance of the SFRSCC was influenced by the orientation of the extracted prismatic specimens regarding the direction of the concrete flow within the cast panel. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.