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Article

Fracture Behavior of Steel-Fiber-Reinforced High-Strength Self-Compacting Concrete: A Digital Image Correlation Analysis

1
Henan Building Materials Research and Design Institute Co., Ltd., Zhengzhou 450002, China
2
Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou 450046, China
3
School of Intelligent Construction and Civil Engineering, Zhongyuan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450007, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Materials 2025, 18(15), 3631; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18153631 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 26 June 2025 / Revised: 16 July 2025 / Accepted: 23 July 2025 / Published: 1 August 2025

Abstract

In this study, steel fibers were used to improve the mechanical properties of high-strength self-compacting concrete (HSSCC), and its effect on the fracture mechanical properties was investigated by a three-point bending test with notched beams. Coupled with the digital image correlation (DIC) technique, the fracture process of steel-fiber-reinforced HSSCC was analyzed to elucidate the reinforcing and fracture-resisting mechanisms of steel fibers. The results indicate that the compressive strength and flexural strength of HSSCC cured for 28 days exhibited an initial decrease and then an enhancement as the volume fraction (Vf) of steel fibers increased, whereas the flexural-to-compressive ratio linearly increased. All of them reached their maximum of 110.5 MPa, 11.8 MPa, and 1/9 at 1.2 vol% steel fibers, respectively. Steel fibers significantly improved the peak load (FP), peak opening displacement (CMODP), fracture toughness (KIC), and fracture energy (GF) of HSSCC. Compared with HSSCC without steel fibers (HSSCC-0), the FP, KIC, CMODP, and GF of HSSCC with 1.2 vol% (HSSCC-1.2) increased by 23.5%, 45.4%, 11.1 times, and 20.1 times, respectively. The horizontal displacement and horizontal strain of steel-fiber-reinforced HSSCC both increased significantly with an increasing Vf. HSSCC-0 experienced unstable fracture without the occurrence of a fracture process zone during the whole fracture damage, whereas the fracture process zone formed at the notched beam tip of HSSCC-1.2 at its initial loading stage and further extended upward in the beams of high-strength self-compacting concrete with a 0.6% volume fraction of steel fibers and HSSCC-1.2 as the load approaches and reaches the peak.
Keywords: fracture mechanical properties; digital image correlation technology; high-strength self-compacting concrete; fracture toughness fracture mechanical properties; digital image correlation technology; high-strength self-compacting concrete; fracture toughness

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MDPI and ACS Style

Zhang, M.; Chen, J.; Liu, J.; Yin, H.; Ma, Y.; Yang, F. Fracture Behavior of Steel-Fiber-Reinforced High-Strength Self-Compacting Concrete: A Digital Image Correlation Analysis. Materials 2025, 18, 3631. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18153631

AMA Style

Zhang M, Chen J, Liu J, Yin H, Ma Y, Yang F. Fracture Behavior of Steel-Fiber-Reinforced High-Strength Self-Compacting Concrete: A Digital Image Correlation Analysis. Materials. 2025; 18(15):3631. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18153631

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zhang, Maoliang, Junpeng Chen, Junxia Liu, Huiling Yin, Yan Ma, and Fei Yang. 2025. "Fracture Behavior of Steel-Fiber-Reinforced High-Strength Self-Compacting Concrete: A Digital Image Correlation Analysis" Materials 18, no. 15: 3631. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18153631

APA Style

Zhang, M., Chen, J., Liu, J., Yin, H., Ma, Y., & Yang, F. (2025). Fracture Behavior of Steel-Fiber-Reinforced High-Strength Self-Compacting Concrete: A Digital Image Correlation Analysis. Materials, 18(15), 3631. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18153631

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