Steel fiber-reinforced concrete corbels: Experimental behavior and shear strength prediction

In the present paper an experimental research is presented regarding the flexural behavior of corbels in plain and fibrous concrete and in the presence of steel bars. This research considers the influence of the type of concrete grade (normal- and high-strengih concretes), of the fiber percentage and of the arrangement and percentage of the steel bars on the flexural behavior of the corbels. The results in terms of load-deflection curves and crack patterns show the effectiveness in using fibrous reinforced concrete corbels as well as in the presence of stirrups ensuring adequate strength and deformation capacity in reinforced concrete corbels. Therefore, a simplified analytical model is proposed to calculate the shear strength of fibrous reinforced concrete corbels as well as in,the presence of, stirrups. The expression proposed for the calculation of the shear strength is then compared with other expressions available in the literature. Finally, the experimental results generated in terms of bearing capacity and those available in the literature are compared with the results obtained through the proposed model and with existing analytical expressions present in the literature showing good agreement.