Numerical simulation of punching shear failure in recycled aggregate concrete slabs with steel fiber reinforcement

Abstract

The use of construction waste as aggregate in the production of concrete is becoming a more frequent alternative due to the advantages associated with the sustainability aspect. Results obtained in experimental tests with recycled aggregate concrete suggest that mechanical properties such as elastic modulus, compressive, tensile and flexural strength tend to reduce with partial or total replacement of natural aggregate by recycled one. On the other hand, the use of steel fiber reinforcement can minimize the reduction of these properties, since the fibers tend to improve the material strength and ductility. This work proposes a numerical approach, seeking to better predict and understand the structural mechanical behaviors and failure patterns of reinforced recycled aggregate concrete slabs with and without steel fiber. Based on the finite element method, an appropriated constitutive damage model is employed to represent the nonlinear behavior of the conventional/recycled concrete, while an elastic-perfectly plastic model is used to describe the mechanical behavior of the reinforcements. To couple the independent FE meshes and incorporate the mutual interaction between the different components, rigid and non-rigid coupling technique is used to represent the perfect adherence or the bond-slip behavior. Seven concrete slabs were numerically analyzed either with different percentages of recycled aggregate replacement (0, 50 and 100%) or steel fibers content (0.0, 0.5 and 1.0%) and the results were compared with the experimental ones. The results showed that the applied methodology is capable of simulating with good accuracy the punching shear failure mechanism of the slabs. It was observed that the punching ultimate load decreased with increase of recycled aggregate content, as well as that the steel fiber addition can minimize the negative effects of recycled aggregate employment.