Behavior of steel fiber-reinforced high-strength concrete at medium strain rate

Impact compression experiments for the steel fiber-reinforced high-strength concrete(SFRHSC)at medium strain rate were conducted using the split Hopkinson press bar(SHPB)testing method.The volume fractions of steel fibers of SFRHSC were between 0 and 3%.The experimental results showed that,when the strain rate increased from threshold value to 90 s^(-1),the maximum stress of SFRHSC increased about 30%,the elastic modulus of SFRHSC increased about 50%,and the increase in the peak strain of SFRHSC was 2-3 times of that in the matrix specimen.The strength and toughness of the matrix were improved remarkably because of the superposition effect of the aggregate high-strength matrix and steel fiber high-strength matrix.As a result,under impact loading,cracks developed in the SFRHSC specimen,but the overall shape of the specimen remained virtually unchanged.However,under similar impact loading,the matrix specimens were almost broken into small pieces.