Shear behaviour of steel fibre reinforced concrete beams

The possibility of substituting traditional transverse reinforcement (stirrups) for steel fibres in precast elements can significantly reduce production costs. In the present paper, the shear behaviour of prestressed elements has been investigated by means of experimental tests on full scale beams. Tests concern beams with conventional as well as steel fibre reinforcement. Experimental results show that the shear behaviour of fibre reinforced concrete beams without conventional reinforcement is similar to, or even better than that of beams with stirrups. When used in beams with stirrups, steel fibres significantly improve their shear strength. A discussion on the contribution of steel fibres on the shear strength is also presented, with reference to the latest RILEM provisions.