Flexural (Moment) Capacity of Ultra-high Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete Beams

Ultra-High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC) is a relatively new generation of cementitious material exhibiting exceptional mechanical characteristics. One of the main applications of this new material is strengthening existing bridges and the construction of new Igirders during the rehabilitation process. Previous research on (UHPFRC) beam girders and prestressed girders found the analytical moment capacity to be 76% of the experimental (test) results. A method based on strain compatibility, equilibrium and the stress-strain relationships is developed to determine the flexural capacity of UHPFRC beams with about 90% accuracy between experimental and numerical capacities. A testing program of five beam specimens is conducted at Ryerson University Structural Laboratory to verify the experimental results. Furthermore, the results of the finite element numerical simulation of ABAQUS software using concrete damage plasticity (CDP) constitutive model predict the flexural capacity of the tested UHPFRC beams reasonably well.