Analysis of Failure Mechanics in Hybrid Fibre-Reinforced High-Performance Concrete Deep Beams with and without Openings

The article presents the results of experimental- and analytical investigations of the behaviour and the load-carrying capacity of deep beams with openings (DBO) and without openings (DB) made of hybrid steel-polypropylene fibre-reinforced high-performance concrete (HFRHPC) subjected to three-point bending tests. Six deep beams 100 mm × 500 mm × 1000 mm were tested with a gradually increasing load until failure. All the specimens were tested in the same simply supported conditions. The research focused on the quantity and kind of concrete reinforcement. The deep beams with steel and polypropylene (PP) fibres were characterised by variously arranged steel bar reinforcement: vertically, horizontally, orthogonally and diagonally. The DB1, DBO1 deep beams were conventionally made with steel rod reinforcement but without fibres. The steel wire mesh reinforcement was replaced by fibre reinforcement of varying volume percentages in the remaining deep beams. The influence of the hybrid fibre content in the specimens was studied by marking the development and propagation of cracks, by recording the failure modes, and by monitoring the deflections at the bottom of the deep beam, at the mid-span and at the support. Three-dimensional measurements of strain and displacement of the deep beams without openings (DB) were performed by the non-contact optical 3D deformation measuring system ARAMIS. The experimental results were compared with the studied methods of predicting the shear strength of deep beams reinforced with hybrid fibre. The conducted study demonstrates that hybrid fibres as web reinforcement have a favourable impact on deep beam crack widths and raise the load carrying capacity of deep beams with openings.