Effect of Steel Fiber and Different Environments on Flexural Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Beams

The main kind of deterioration in marine Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures and other infrastructures is steel bar corrosion due to cracks in concrete surfaces, which leads to the reduction of the load carrying capacity, ductility, and structural safety. It seems that steel fibers can reduce and delay the cracking, and increase the flexural strength and ductility of marine RC structures. To do so, in marine atmosphere and the tidal zone of the Oman Sea and fresh water, the flexural behavior of beams containing Plain Concrete (PC), Concrete with Steel fiber Reinforcement (SFRC), RC, Concrete with Steel fiber, and bar Reinforcement ((R+S)C) at 28, 90 and 180 days were determined. Beams were 99 un-cracked and pre-cracked beams, with dimensions of 200 × 200 × 750 mm. Based on results and at 180 days, the flexural strength and toughness of pre-cracked (R+S)C beams were 22%–43% higher than the pre-cracked RC beams. The effect of steel fiber on the increment of load capacity and the toughness of pre-cracked RC beams were approximately the same. By addition of steel fiber to un-cracked RC beams, load capacity and toughness were increased up to 20%. The load capacity and toughness in marine atmosphere and tidal zone were approximately 15% lower than the fresh water condition.