Experimental Tests on Parameters Influencing on Shear - On Shear Behavior of Structural Elements Made of Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete - page 61

4.4.2 Testing Procedure

The beams were tested with simple supports and were subjected to two point loads.
The distance between supports was 5.00 m and the shear span/depth ratio (a/d) was
3.0 in all cases, except for beam HF400h/6, with a/d = 2.8.
The two loads were applied to the beams by one 2,500 kN hydraulic jack applied
at a rate of 0.5 2.0 kN/s. To monitor the behavior of the beams, the applied loads

and vertical deflections were measured using a load cell and three displacement
transducers placed on the middle span at the center of each shear span. All the
variables were continuously registered by the data acquisition system. Photography
and video cameras were also utilized in both the shear span zones on both sides of
the beams. A synchronized recording system allowed us to assign each photogram
to the corresponding load. The maximum shear crack opening versus load curve
was obtained from a photo analysis. Figure 4.5 shows the test set-up.

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4.4.3 Results

As expected, all the beams suffered shear failure and presented diagonal cracks
accompanied by minor exural cracks. Table 4.4 shows the maximum load obtained

for each beam. Greater shear capacity was obtained when stirrups and

fl

ber acted
simultaneously (Beams HF600TR/1 and HF600TR/2), reaching a value of 18.5 %
higher than that of the beam with traditional stirrups only (Beam H600TR/3).
No signi

cant difference was found between the two beams with both stirrups

Fig. 4.5 Beam during shear test