Flexural toughness and calculation model of super-fine stainless wire reinforced reactive powder concrete

Abstract

As a type of excellent reinforcing filler, super-fine stainless wire (SSW) can form widely distributed network in reactive powder concrete (RPC) to transfer crack tip stresses as well as inhibit the initiation and propagation of cracks, leading to significant improvement of flexural toughness of RPC. In this paper, the flexural toughness of RPC beams and plates reinforced with 1% and 1.5% by vol. of SSWs was investigated, and its calculation model was established according to the composite material theory. Experimental results showed that the flexural toughness of unnotched beams fabricated with RPC containing 1.5% SSWs is 146.5% higher than that of control RPC without SSWs according to load-deflection relationships. The equivalent flexural strength of notched RPC beams is enhanced by 80.0% as SSW content increases from 1% to 1.5%. The limitation ability of SSWs on crack mouth opening can be used to evaluate the flexural toughness of composites. An addition of 1.5% SSWs leads to 201.9% increase of flexural toughness of RPC plates in accordance with load-deflection relationships. The calculation model based on the composite material theory can accurately describe the toughening effect of SSWs on RPC beams and plates. The enhancement of flexural toughness of RPC caused by SSWs is beneficial for improving the safety of structures as well as broadening the engineering applications of composites.