Behavior of Steel Fiber-Reinforced Concrete under Reversed Cyclic Shear

It is well known that the monotonic behavior of reinforced concrete can be improved with the addition of steel fibers. However, available literature on the use of steel fibers as shear or flexural reinforcement has predominantly focused on non-seismic applications. Experiments were performed to characterize the reversed cyclic response of steel fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC) and compare its response with that of monotonically loaded SFRC and conventionally reinforced concrete. Ten concrete panels were constructed and tested under in-plane pure-shear loading conditions. The test parameters included fiber volume content, fiber aspect ratio, and loading protocol. Results indicate that, under reversed cyclic loading, SFRC exhibits stable hysteretic response with minimal strength degradation and no noticeable changes in ductility. Fiber volume content and fiber aspect ratio are found to significantly influence the shear performance of SFRC. Details and results are provided.