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Accepted Article

Technical Paper
RESIDUAL MODULUS OF ELASTICITY AND MAXIMUM COMPRESSIVE STRAIN
OF HSC AND FRHSC AFTER HIGH STRESS LEVEL CYCLIC LOADING

Miguel A. Vicente1, Dorys C. Gonzlez2, Jess Mnguez3 and Jos A. Martnez4

Ph. D. Miguel A. Vicente is Professor of Structural Concrete and Bridge Technology at the Department of

Civil Engineering, University of Burgos, Spain. c/Villadiego, s/n. 09001. E-Mail: mvicente@ubu.es.
Tfn: 0034-947-25.94.23. Fax: 0034-947-25.89.10. Corresponding Author.

Ph. D. Dorys C. Gonzlez is Professor of Concrete Technology at the Department of Civil Engineering,

University of Burgos, Spain. c/Villadiego, s/n. 09001. Burgos. Spain. E-Mail: dgonzalez@ubu.es.
Tfn: 0034-947-25.94.20. Fax: 0034-947-25.89.10.

Ph. D. Jess Mnguez is Associate Professor of Concrete Technology at the Department of Civil Engineering,

University of Burgos, Spain. c/Villadiego, s/n. 09001. Burgos. Spain. E-Mail: jminguez@ubu.es.
Tfn: 0034-947-25.94.25. Fax: 0034-947-25.89.10.

Ph. D. Jos A. Martnez is Professor of Concrete Technology at the Department of Civil Engineering,

University of Burgos, Spain. c/Villadiego, s/n. 09001. Burgos. Spain. E-Mail: jamartinez@ubu.es.
Tfn: 0034-947-25.90.77. Fax: 0034-947-25.89.10.

This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting,
typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of
Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1002/suco.201300032.
Submitted:
Revised:
Accepted:

20-May-2013
12-Nov-2013
06-Dec-2013

2013 Ernst & Sohn Verlag fr Architektur und technische Wissenschaften GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin

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ABSTRACT

Accepted Article

This paper discusses the residual modulus of elasticity and maximum compressive strain of high strength

concrete and fiber reinforced high strength concrete after being subjected to axial high stress level cyclic loading.
This paper presents a specific procedure to evaluate the residual values of these mechanical parameters of
concrete specimens.
This procedure reveals that there is not a monotonic decrease of the residual modulus of elasticity with

number of cycles. In all cases, an initial decrease occurs. Then, an increase and, finally, another decrease happen.
Similarly, there is not a monotonic increase of the residual maximum compressive strain.
The results show substantial changes in both the residual modulus of elasticity and the residual maximum

compressive strain of concrete depending on the number of cycles. These variations are due to the combined
action of two phenomena of concrete: microcracking and reconsolidation of concrete microstructure.

Keywords: fatigue, high strength concrete, fiber reinforced high strength concrete, modulus of elasticity,
maximum compressive strain.

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1. INTRODUCTION

Accepted Article

Nowadays, high strength concrete is a common concrete type due to the demand of slender structural

elements subjected to increasing stress levels. Often, structural stresses have their origin in dynamic loading (i.e.
wind, railroad traffic, and more). This situation may result in changes in the structural response of concrete
elements. As a consequence, mechanical parameters of structural elements, stiffness mainly, changes throughout

the service life. These changes modify not only the structural response provoked by dynamic loads, but also the
one caused by static loads.
Many researchers [1-17] have studied the fatigue life of high strength concrete with and without the

addition of fibers. In most of these studies, specimens were tested under a predetermined stress level until they
break. The result is the number of cycles they are able to withstand. Few researchers analyzed the residual

modulus of elasticity and even fewer the maximum compressive strain of concrete elements after being subjected
to cyclic loading.
Early work in this field was carried out by Nelson et al. [6]. In 1988 they performed biaxial compression

tests on prismatic specimens. A small percentage of the test specimens reached the run-out value and were next
subjected to an uniaxial static testing until failure. An average increase of 4% in the residual modulus of
elasticity was observed; no information about the maximum compressive strain was presented. This phenomenon
was attributed to one or more of the following reasons: densification of the concrete at the micro-level,
rearrangement of the atomic structure towards a more stable orientation, reduction in localized stresses at the
aggregate-mortar interface and/or uniform redistribution of localized shrinkage stresses within the concrete.
Cachim et al. [7] carried out fatigue testing on concrete cylindrical specimens, with and without fibers. Similarly
to the previous case, a small percentage of the test specimens reached the run-out value and were next subjected
to static testing until failure. An increase of the modulus of elasticity of 10% for plain concrete and 16% for fiber
reinforced concrete was observed; no information about the maximum compressive strain was added.
The results of both these works are not representative, because only the specimens which had previously

reached the run-out condition were analyzed. In fact, only the strongest specimens fulfilled this condition. The
post-fatigue study was a secondary aspect in these researches.
It must be taken into account that real concrete structures are not subjected to constant amplitude cyclic

loading until failure. In fact, they are usually subjected to variable amplitude cyclic loading and occasionally to
high stress level loads. Cyclic loading usually does not cause the collapse of the concrete structure, but it causes
a variation of its mechanical parameters. Cyclic loading has a pronounced influence on the structural response
for both static and dynamic loading. Considering this fact, Urban et al. [18], studied the variation of the modulus

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of elasticity of concrete towers for wind turbines, caused by cyclic loading and its consequence in term of

Accepted Article

variation of the structural response for static and dynamic loading. Furthermore, damage caused by cyclic
compressive loading appears to have no effect on the level of structural elements (i.e. no cracks are visible, etc.).
This phenomenon could also affect post-tensioned concrete beams. A variation of modulus of elasticity and
maximum compressive strain due to cyclic loading affects the structural response, especially under static loading
(instantaneous elastic deflection, deferred deflection, etc). Also the dynamic response of the structural element is
modified (natural frequency, maximum vertical acceleration, impact factor, etc).

2. EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM
The experimental study consisted of on the analysis of the variation of the modulus of elasticity and

maximum compressive strain of C70/85 class concrete specimens according to Eurocode 2 [19], after having
been subjected to axial cyclic loading. Also, the effect of the addition of polypropylene and steel fibers is
analyzed. In all cases, the applied stress level and the number of load cycles did not provoke the collapse of the
specimens. Once the cyclic loading test was finished, the specimens were subjected to static testing until failure,
and both the residual modulus of elasticity and maximum compressive strain were measured. The maximum
compressive strain is defined as the compressive strain belonging to the maximum concrete compressive strength
(Figure 1). The values obtained are compared with the ones measured on the concrete specimens which had not
been previously subjected to cyclic loading. This test procedure had never been used previously by other
researchers, which is a significant aspect of this work.
The main testing parameters were:
1.

2.

Fiber dosage: a total of three concretes were tested. One without fibers (referred to as HSC),
another with 1 Vol. % polypropylene fibers (referred to as PPFRHSC) and the last one with 1 Vol.
% steel fibers (referred to as SFRHSC).
Cycle stress range: 35% - 50% of the characteristic compression strength, obtained at the
beginning of the cyclic testing. This range is usually considered the first stage of the plastic
range of concrete in the stress strain diagram.

3.

Number of cycles: four cycles were analyzed: 2,000; 20,000; 200,000 and 2,000,000 cycles.

4.

Number of specimens: Twenty-four specimens of each concrete type were tested. The specimens
were placed in a curing room with a constant relative humidity of 100% and an ambient
temperature of 20C. The specimens were stored there until testing at 120 days after casting.
Sixteen of them were subjected to cycling loading in a set of four specimens for each number of

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Accepted Article

cycles. Four specimens were tested under static loading until failure immediately before cycling
testing began (Figure 2). The remaining four specimens were tested under static loading until
failure, at an age of 28 days.

Cyclic testing started when the specimens were 120 days old, in order to reduce the variation of the

modulus of elasticity due to age. In all cases the cyclic testing frequency was 6 Hz.
Figure 3 shows the theoretical variation of the modulus of elasticity due to age, according to Model Code

2010 [20]. The cyclic testing duration is approximately 25 days for each concrete. Cyclic testing started when
concrete specimens were 120 days old, and ended when concrete specimens were 145 days old.
According to Figure 3, during this time, the concretes exhibit a theoretical increase of the modulus of

elasticity of approximately 0.3%. Therefore, it is concluded that the variation of the modulus of elasticity due to
aging has a very small influence on the results.
3.1 Materials
Twenty-four cylindrical specimens (100 mm diameter, 200 mm height) were produced for each of the

concretes. PPFRHSC incorporated crimped polypropylene fibers (45 mm length, 0.95 mm diameter, tensile
strength 400 MPa). SFRHSC incorporated hooked-ended steel fibers (50 mm length, 1.05 mm diameter, tensile
strength 1000 MPa). Both fibers are specifically designed for the reinforcement of concrete. The mix proportions
of the concretes are shown in Table 1. The main mechanical parameters of the concretes are shown in Table 2.
In all cases, the characteristic compressive strength at 28 days is comparable. But there are significant

differences in the modulus of elasticity and the maximum strain depending on the concrete type. HSC shows the
lowest values for both the modulus of elasticity and the maximum strain; while SFRHSC shows the highest
values.

3.2 Specimens testing

Tests were carried out in the Laboratory of Large Civil Engineering Structures (LCESUBU), at the

University of Burgos, Spain. The concrete specimens were subjected to axial compression cycles using a
dynamic actuator model MTS 244.4, with a 500 kN traction and compression capacity. The actuator is equipped
with an MTS 661.23F-01 load cell with a range of 500 kN, for both traction and compression, the average error
of the load cell is below 1% in its range (Figure 4).
First, the static compressive strength of non-fatigued specimens was determined as the basis for
determining stress levels for the specimens to be tested under cyclic loading.

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In all cyclic tests, the stress function in time had a sine-wave form, and fluctuated between a constant

Accepted Article

minimum of 35% and a maximum of 50% of the characteristic compressive strength (characteristic means a 95%
probability that the strength is higher) previously determined, from the start until the prefixed number of cycles
was reached. The same procedure was applied to each of the three concretes. Directly after the cyclic testing was
completed, the specimens were statically tested to determine the residual modulus of elasticity and the residual
maximum compressive strain. The static testing was carried out according to EN 12390-3:2009 [21] (Figure 5).

4. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Results on the static modulus of elasticity and the maximum compressive strain for the different number

of cycles and concretes are shown in Figures 6 and 7.

The characteristic value of the modulus of elasticity

Ec , k is obtained using the following equation

(according to Gaussian distribution, the modulus of elasticity of concrete and a probability of 95% to be

exceeded) (Eq. 1).

Ec ,k = Ec ,m 1.645sE

(1)

where:

Ec ,m is the average value of the modulus of elasticity.

sE

is the standard deviation of the modulus of elasticity.

Analogously, the characteristic value of the maximum compressive strain

c,k

is obtained using the

following equation (according to Gaussian distribution, the maximum compressive strain of concrete and a
probability of 95% to be exceeded) (Eq. 2):

c ,k = c ,m 1.645s

(2)

where:

c ,m
s

is the average value of the maximum compressive strain.

is the standard deviation of the maximum compressive strain.

The average values are useful to understand the mechanical response of the concrete, although the

characteristic values are used in design of concrete elements.

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4.1 Modulus of elasticity

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Figure 6 shows that there is an initial reduction of both the residual average and characteristic modulus of

elasticity, and then, an increase follows. Usually this increment reaches a maximum value, and then it starts

decreasing again. In all concretes, the minimum value is reached at 2,000 cycles ( log ( N ) = 3.3 ), and then it

starts increasing up to 20,000 cycles ( log ( N ) = 4.3 ), with more cycles the values dropped again.
The residual characteristic modulus of elasticity of HSC, between 0 and 2,000 cycles, of HSC shows an

insignificant decrease, of about 2%; PPFRHSC shows a decrease of approximately 8%. SFRHSC has a greater

decrease, of approximately 14%. The residual average modulus of elasticity shows smaller percentages of
decrease (0%, 1% and 7% for HSC, PPFRHSC and SFRHSC, respectively). After this initial decrease, between

2,000 and 20,000 cycles, the HSC shows a moderate increase of its residual characteristic modulus of elasticity,
of approximately 6%. PPFRHSC has a higher increase, of approximately 9%; SFRHSC has a smaller increase, of
about 5%. The residual average modulus of elasticity of the three concretes shows similar percentages of change
at increasing number of cycles (11%, 10% and 6%, respectively). Finally, between 20,000 and 2,000,000 cycles (

log ( N ) = 6.3 ), the residual characteristic modulus of elasticity of HSC decreases again with approximately

19%. In this case, the decrease of PPFRHSC and SFRHSC was about 9% and 10%, respectively. The residual

average modulus of elasticity shows smaller percentages of change (12%, 9% and 5%, respectively).
Between 0 and 2,000,000 cycles, the decrease of the residual characteristic modulus of elasticity of HSC,

PPFRHSC and SFRHSC is about 16%, 9% and 18%, respectively; the decrease of the residual average modulus

of elasticity is about 2%, 1% and 7%, respectively.

4.2 Maximum compressive strain
Figure 7 shows the variation of the residual maximum compressive strain of the three concretes. In all

cases, no uniform variation of this parameter can be observed up to 20,000 cycles. Then, the maximum strain
increases.
In the case of HSC, the residual characteristic maximum compressive strain shows a decrease of 22%

between 0 and 20,000 cycles. The residual average maximum compressive strain shows a decrease of
approximately 13%. In the case of PPFRHSC, the residual characteristic maximum compressive strain shows an

increase, between 0 and 20,000 cycles, of about 8%. The residual average maximum compressive strain shows
an increase of approximately 12%. In the case of SFRHSC, the residual characteristic maximum compressive

strain shows a decrease, between 0 and 20,000 cycles, of about 7%. However, the residual average maximum

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compressive strain slightly increased by about 2%. Between 20,000 and 2,000,000 cycles, the residual

Accepted Article

characteristic maximum compressive strain of HSC increased by approximately 32%. PPFRHSC has a smaller
increase, of approximately 13%; the increase of SFRHSC was approximately 11%. The residual average
maximum compressive strain shows similar percentages of change (20%, 7% and 10%, respectively).
Between 0 and 2,000,000 cycles, the residual characteristic maximum compressive strain of HSC,

PPFRHSC and SFRHSC increased by 6%, 23% and 4%, respectively; the increase of their residual average

maximum compressive strain was about 6%, 20% and 12%, respectively.
Figures 8 and 9 compare the results of the three concretes concerning the modulus of elasticity and the

maximum compressive strain, both for average and characteristic values. Relative values are defined as the ratio
of the modulus of elasticity or the maximum compressive strain to "N" cycles and the initial modulus of
elasticity or maximum compressive strain (static testing). These figures show graphically the above explained.

5. ANALYSIS OF RESULTS
Decreases and increases of the residual characteristic modulus of elasticity and the maximum

compressive strain can be explained with the occurrence of two internal phenomena in concrete occurring at the
same time. The first one is microcracking and fracture of the interface between the aggregates and the mortar,
and also between the mortar and the fibers. The result is a decrease of the modulus of elasticity and,
subsequently, an increase of the maximum compressive strain. This phenomenon occurs in two stages. The first
stage occurs within a few cycles, and it may be due to a reduction in localized internal stresses. The second stage
is less intensive and requires more cycles. It may be due to micro-cracking propagation, caused by the fatigue
process. The results are consistent with those obtained by [22], who showed that there is a relationship between
the variation of diffuse damage (porosity variation) and the variation of the mechanical parameters of concrete.
The second phenomenon is reconsolidation of the concrete, and a loss of pores, causing an increase of the

modulus of elasticity and, subsequently, a decrease of the maximum compressive strain. This process occurs
with increasing number of cycles, although it seems to be more intense in the early cycles. That agrees with the
results obtained by [6, 7 and 23]. Figures 10 and 11 show graphically the above explanation.
Comparing the different concretes, it can be concluded that steel fibers provoke the highest decrease of

the modulus of elasticity, while polypropylene fibers provoke the lowest decrease. Similarly, it also can be
concluded that steel fibers provoke the lowest increase of the maximum compressive strain compared to the
reference HSC, while polypropylene fibers provokes the highest increase.

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5.1 Correlation between residual modulus of elasticity and residual maximum compressive strain

Accepted Article

Figure 12 displays the residual modulus of elasticity versus residual maximum compressive strain for all

tests. Each dot represents one test specimen. Figure 12 indicates a trend of decreasing modulus of elasticity with
increasing maximum compressive strain. This trend is clear, although it is not a very strong correlation and a
wide dispersion of the results can be observed. An effort was then made to extract this relation. The following
general equation describes this relation.

E c = 1 c 2

(3)

where E c is the modulus of elasticity (in MPa) as defined earlier, c is the maximum compressive strain, and

1 and 2 are model coefficients. For higher fidelity, the model coefficients are identified respectively for

each of the three concretes included in the test program, using statistical regression. The results are shown in

Table 3, with respective R2 values.

5.2 Scanning electron microscope analysis
Once static testing was done, an analysis of the microstructure of the concretes was carried out on some

samples using scanning electron microscope. Specifically, the presence of microcracking at the interface of
fibers and mortar was studied. Specimens with no-cyclic loading were analyzed, and also specimens that were
subjected to a cyclic loading of 2,000,000 cycles. Figures 13 to 16 show some of the images obtained by

scanning electron microscope. These figures show that the specimens that had not been previously subjected to
cyclic loading showed no microcracking at the interface fiber - mortar. However, the specimens subjected to
2,000,000 cycles of cyclic loads show microcracking in the interface fiber - mortar. It can be concluded that

cyclic loading cause microcracking at the interface fiber - mortar. As a consequence, internal stresses are

reduced and the stiffness of the fibers begins to influence the structural response of the specimen.

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6. CONCLUSIONS

Accepted Article

A cyclic loading study was performed with HSC, PPFRHSC and SFRHSC. These concrete types were

subjected to the same stress level and frequency of cyclic loads. The conclusions obtained are:
1.

2.

3.

4.

The variation of the residual characteristic modulus of elasticity during cyclic loading has three
phases. First, a decrease of the residual modulus of elasticity occurs. Then, an increase was
observed, and finally, a decrease. These three phases can be clearly observed for all concretes
tested.
Concrete specimens with polypropylene fibres showed a relative lower decrease (or even an
increase) of modulus of elasticity after cyclic testing compared to steel fibres. This may be due to
the presence of soft fibers in the mixture, effectively reinforcing the concrete matrix. On the
contrary, concrete specimens with steel fibers and also without fibers showed a relative steeper
decrease after cyclic testing.
The variation of both the residual characteristic and average maximum compressive strain with the
cyclic loading has two phases. First, up to 20,000 cycles, the residual maximum compressive strain
remains without significant variations. Then, the strain increases. These two phases can be clearly
observed in all concretes.
Concrete specimens with polypropylene fibres showed a relative higher increase of the maximum
compressive strain after cyclic testing. This may be due to the content of flexible fibers in the
mixture. On the contrary, concrete specimens with steel fibers and also without fibers showed a
relative lower increase of maximum compressive strain after the cyclic testing.

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REFERENCES
Shah A. Abid, Ribakov Y. Recent trends in steel fiber high-strength concrete. Materials and Design,

Accepted Article

[1].

vol. 32, pp. 4122-4151, 2011.

[2].

Naaman A.E., Hammoud H. Fatigue Characteristics of High Performance Fiber-reinforced Concrete.

Cement and Concrete Composites, vol. 20, pp.353-363, 1998.

[3].

Do, M., Chaallal, O., and Atcin, P. Fatigue Behavior of High Performance Concrete. Journal of
Materials in Civil Engineering. 1993.

[4].

Handong Y., Wei Sun, H. C. The effect of silica fume and steel fiber on the dynamic mechanical
performance of high-strength concrete. Cement and Concrete Research, vol. 29, pp. 423-426, 1999.

[5].

Kim J.-K., Kim. Y.Y. Experimental study of the fatigue behaviour of high strength concrete. Cement
and Concrete Research, vol. 26, no 10, pp. 1513-1523, 1996.

[6].

Nelson E.L., Carrasquillo, R.L., Fowler, D.W. Behaviour and failure of high strength concrete subjected

to biaxial-cyclic compression loading. ACI Materials Journal, vol. 85, no 30, pp. 248-253, 1988.

[7].

Cachim P., Figueiras J., Pereira P. Fatigue behavior of fiber-reinforced concrete in compression.
Cement and Concrete Composites, vol. 24, pp. 211-217, 2002,

[8].

Naaman A.E., Reinhardt H.W. "High performance fiber reinforced cement composites HPFRCC-4:

International workshop Ann Arbor, Michigan, June 16-18, 2003" Cement & Concrete Composites, vol.
26, pp. 757-759, 2004.

[9].

Zanuy C., Albajar L., De la Fuente P. The fatigue process of concrete and its structural influence,"
Materiales de Construccin, vol. 61, no 303, pp. 385-399 2011.

[10]. Zhang B., Wu K. Residual fatigue strength and stiffness of ordinary concrete under bending Cement
and Concrete Research, vol. 27, no 1, pp. 115-126, 1997.

[11]. CEB-FIB "Constitutive modeling of high strength/high performance concrete," Fib Bulletin 42, 2008.
[12]. ACI Committee 544 "State-of-the-Art Report on Fiber Reinforced Concrete," American Concrete
Institute, ACI 544.1R-96 (Reapproved 2009)

[13]. ACI Committee 363 State of the art on High Strength Concrete American Concrete Institute, ACI
363R-92 (Reapproved 1997)

[14].

Hsu, T.T.C. Fatigue of plain concrete. ACI J., vol. 78, no 4, pp 292-305, 1981.

[15]. Zanuy, C.; Albajar, L.; de la Fuente, P. Sectional analysis of concrete structures under fatigue loading,
ACI Struct. J., vol. 106, no 5, pp. 667-677, 2009.

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[16]. Gao L. and Hsu C.T. "Fatigue of concrete under uniaxial compression cyclic loading", ACI Material

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Journal, vol. 95, no 5, pp. 575-581, 1998.

[17]. Do M., Schaller I., de Larrard F. and Atcin P.-C. "Fatigue des btons hautes performances", Annales
ITBTP, vol. 536, pp. 2-27, 1995.

[18]. Urban, S.; Strauss, A.; Macho, W.; Bergmeister, K.; Dehlinger, C. and Reiterer, M. Zyklisch belastete
Betonstrukturen. Robustheits- und Redundanzbetrachtungen zur Optimierung der Restnutzungsdauer
(Concrete structures under cyclic loading. Robustness and redundancy considerations for residual lifetime
optimization) (In German). Bautechnik, vol. 89, no 11, 2012,

[19]. European Committee for Standardization EUROCODE 2, Design of concrete structures, 2004.
[20]. International Federation for Structural Concrete (FIB) Model Code 2010, 2010 Fib Bulletin 65.
[21]. EN 12390-3:2009 Testing hardened concrete - Part 3: Compressive strength of test specimens.
AEN/CTN 83: 478.

[22]. Zhang, B. (1998) Relationship between pore structure and mechanical properties of ordinary concrete
under bending fatigue. Cement and Concrete Research, vol. 28, no 5, pp 688-711.

[23]. Pons, G., and Maso, J. C. "Microstructure evolution of concrete under low-frequency cyclic loading:
determination of the porosity variations" Pergamon Press, 2817-2824.

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TABLES AND FIGURES.

List of Tables:
Table 1 Mix proportions.
Table 2 Main mechanical parameters at 28-days age.
Table 3 1 and 2 coefficients found for equation 3.

List of Figures:
Figure 1: Typical stress-strain curve for concrete.
Figure 2: Testing procedure.
Figure 3: Variation of modulus of elasticity with age [20].
Figure 4: Dynamic testing facility.
Figure 5: Testing specimen subjected to static testing until failure, once cyclic loading was applied.
Figure 6: Residual modulus of elasticity versus number of cycles.
Figure 7: Residual maximum compressive strain versus number of cycles.
Figure 8: Residual relative modulus of elasticity versus number of cycles. Average (left) and characteristic
values (right).
Figure 9: Residual relative maximum strain versus number of cycles. Average (left) and characteristic values
(right).

Figure 10: Theoretical explanation of the variation of the modulus of elasticity, as a combination of
microcracking and reconsolidation phenomena.
Figure 11: Theoretical explanation of the variation of the maximum compressive strain, as a combination of

microcracking and reconsolidation phenomena.

Figure 12: Correlation between residual modulus of elasticity and residual maximum compressive strain.
Figure 13: Scanning Electron Microscopy. Fiber mortar interface. PPFRHSC 0 cycles. (a) General View. (b)
Detail.
Figure 14: Scanning Electron Microscopy. Fiber mortar interface. PPFRHSC 2,000,000 cycles. (a) General
View. (b) Detail.
Figure 15: Scanning Electron Microscopy. Fiber mortar interface. SFRHSC 0 cycles. (a) General View. (b)
Detail.

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Figure 16: Scanning Electron Microscopy. Fiber mortar interface. SFRHSC 2,000,000 cycles. (a) General

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View. (b) Detail.

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Table 1 Mix proportions

Cement
(kg/m3)

Water
(kg/m3)

Superplasticizer
(kg/m3)

Silica
fume
(kg/m3)

Fine
aggregates
(kg/m3)

Coarse
aggregate
(kg/m3)

HSC

400

125

14

800

1080

PPFRHSC

400

125

14

800

1080

1 Vol. %

SFRHSC

400

125

14

800

1080

1 Vol. %

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Concrete

Fibers

Table 2 Main mechanical parameters at 28-days age.

Characteristic
Characteristic
compressive
modulus of
cylinder strength
elasticity (MPa)
(MPa)

Type of
concrete

Standard
deviation of
the modulus of
elasticity
(MPa)

Characteristic
maximum
compressive strain
(m/m)

Standard
deviation of the
maximum
compressive
strain (m/m)

HSC

73.4

31,334

1,525

0.0030

0.0002

PPFRHSC

75.9

37,441

1,731

0.0027

0.0002

SFRHSC

78.8

39,871

1,380

0.0034

0.0001

Table 3 1 and 2 coefficients found for Equation 3.

Type of concrete

R2

HSC

1,901

0.515

0.412

PPFRHSC

4,961

0.355

0.186

SFRHSC

9,643

0.254

0.087

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Figure 1: Typical stress-strain curve for concrete.

Figure 2: Testing procedure.

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Figure 3: Variation off modulus of elasticity

e
with age [20].

Figure 4: D
Dynamic testiing facility.

SStructural Concrete
C

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Figure 5: Testing specimen subjected to static testing until failure, once cyclic loading was applied.

Figure 6: Residual modulus of elasticity versus number of cycles.

Figure 7: Residual maximum compressive strain versus number of cycles.

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Figure 8: Residual relative modulus of elasticity versus number of cycles. Average (left) and characteristic
values (right).

Figure 9: Residual relative maximum strain versus number of cycles. Average (left) and characteristic values
(right).

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Figure 10: Theoretical explanation of the variation of the modulus of elasticity, as a combination of
microcracking and reconsolidation phenomena.

Figure 11: Theoretical explanation of the variation of the maximum compressive strain, as a combination of
microcracking and reconsolidation phenomena.

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Figure 12: Correlation between residual modulus of elasticity and residual maximum compressive strain.

Accepted Article

www.ernst-und-sohn.de

Page 22

Structural Concrete

FIBER

MORTAR

DETAIL

FIBER

MORTAR
NO MICROCRACKING
IS OBSERVED

Figure 13: Scanning Electron Microscopy. Fiber mortar interface. PPFRHSC 0 cycles. (a) General View. (b)
Detail.

Accepted Article

www.ernst-und-sohn.de

Page 23

Structural Concrete

FIBER

MORTAR

DETAIL

FIBER

MORTAR
MICROCRACKING IS
OBSERVED

Figure 14: Scanning Electron Microscopy. Fiber mortar interface. PPFRHSC 2,000,000 cycles. (a) General
View. (b) Detail.

Accepted Article

www.ernst-und-sohn.de

Page 24

Structural Concrete

FIBER

MORTAR

DETAIL

FIBER

MORTAR

NO MICROCRACKING
IS OBSERVED

Figure 15: Scanning Electron Microscopy. Fiber mortar interface. SFRHSC 0 cycles. (a) General View. (b)
Detail.

Accepted Article

www.ernst-und-sohn.de

Page 25

Structural Concrete

FIBER

MORTAR
DETAIL

FIBER

MORTAR

MICROCRACKING IS
OBSERVED

Figure 16: Scanning Electron Microscopy. Fiber mortar interface. SFRHSC 2,000,000 cycles. (a) General
View. (b) Detail.