Long-term behaviour of fibre-reinforced self-compacting concrete beams

This paper describes the results of an experimental campaign aimed at investigating the long-term behaviour of beams cast using fibre reinforced self-compacting concretes containing either steel or synthetic fibres in comparison with that of plain self-compacting concrete beams with standard reinforcement. The flexural behaviour of six different beams was investigated in a long-term four point bending test under constant loading. All the beams were pre-cracked before the long-term test. The tests showed that fibres have an important role in controlling the increase of crack opening over time. The greatest reduction in the delayed crack opening was obtained using a mixture of steel and macro synthetic fibres.