Deflection behavior of concrete beams reinforced with PVA micro-fibers

This paper presents experimental and theoretical investigations on the stress-strain and load-deflection behavior of Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) microfiber reinforced concrete composites. The actual stress-strain relationships in both compression and tension were established by performing a series of compression and tension tests on PVA micro-fibers reinforced concrete specimens. The proposed deflection model was developed by using the well known moment-curvature and conjugate beam methods. Comparisons with the experimental data indicated that the model can be efficiently used to predict the load-deflection behavior of the microfiber reinforced concrete beams. Flexural results indicated that the addition of PVA micro-fibers significantly increases toughness and ductility. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.