Crack model for steel fiber-reinforced concrete members containing conventional reinforcement

This paper proposes a new model for the calculation of crack spacings and crack widths in steel fiber-reinforced concrete members containing conventional steel reinforcing bars (R/SFRC). The model considers the effects of various fiber and conventional reinforcement parameters. Predictions are compared against the test results of 17 plain reinforced concrete (RC) and 53 large-scale R/SFRC specimens subjected to uniaxial tension available in the literature. It is found that the proposed model predicts the crack spacings and widths of R/SFRC with reasonable accuracy and outperforms other steel fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC) crack spacing models currently available. The model is expanded to include biaxial stress conditions to facilitate the analysis of elements such as SFRC panels subjected to shear. Here, too, the model is found to give sufficiently accurate predictions of the average crack conditions.