Mechanics of Structures and Materials: Advancements and Challenges – Hao & Zhang (Eds)

© 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-1-138-02993-4

Direct tensile test of high strength concrete with and without steel fibres

Hayder Alaa Hasan, Faez Alhussainy, M. Neaz Sheikh & Muhammad N.S. Hadi
School of CME Engineering, University of Wollongong, Australia

ABSTRACT:  This study investigates the uniaxial tensile strength capacity of High Strength Concrete
(HSC) and Steel Fibre High Strength Concrete (SFHSC) using the direct tensile testing method developed
at the University of Wollongong. The SFHSC mix contained 1% (by volume) brass coated steel fibres.
Steel claws were embedded in the ends of 100 × 100 × 500 mm HSC and SFHSC specimens to prevent
slippage and fracture at the ends of the specimens. Steel universal joints were also used to ensure a perfect
alignment of the specimens. The cross-sectional area of the tested specimens was reduced in the middle to
ensure that failure would occur in the middle. The results indicated that the direct tensile strengths of the
HSC and SFHSC specimens were less than splitting and flexure strengths. The direct tensile strength of
SFHSC specimens was found to be 20% higher than the direct tensile strength of the HSC specimens.

1  Introduction at early ages. It was found that rate of increase of

The behaviour of the concrete in tension influ-
ences the cracking and post-cracking behaviour
of the concrete members. Consequently, the ten-
sile strength capacity of the concrete has become
important for the analysis of the response of
concrete structures in terms of load-deformation
characteristics, crack formation, and tension-sof-
tening of concrete between cracks. Kdrmeling and
Reinhardtt (1987) studied the effect of strain rate
on the tensile strength and the fracture energy of
plain and steel fibre reinforced concrete. A con-
siderable increase in the tensile strength and frac-
ture energy of both plain and steel fibre concrete
specimens was observed as a result of high strain
rates. Marzouk and Chen (1995) investigated the
properties of High Strength Concrete (HSC) in
tension, including the post-peak softening behav-
iour. It was observed that HSC experienced a more
brittle and stiffer response in tension compared to
the Normal Strength Concrete (NSC). They also
reported that HSC exhibited larger modulus of
elasticity in the initial ascending part of the stress-
strain curve and a sharper descending part beyond
the peak load compared to the NSC. Wee et  al.
(2000) conducted an experimental investigation on
the tensile capacity of the concrete. It was reported
that the tensile strength measured from the direct
tensile testing was about two-thirds the concrete
flexural strength. It was also reported that the ten-
sile strength of the concrete ranged between 5.5
and 8.5% of the cylinder compressive strength of
the concrete. Swaddiwudhipong et al. (2003) inves-
tigated the tensile strain capacity of the concrete
the tensile strength of the concrete with curing age
was lower than the rate of increase of compressive
strength of concrete. Also, it was reported that
the ratio of the tensile strength to the compressive
strength of the concrete ranges between 0.04 and
0.10 and the ratio decreased with increasing com-
pressive strength of the concrete. Wu et al. (2012)
determined the tensile strength of the concrete
under low and intermediate strain rates using three
different methods: splitting tension and four-point
flexural tests as well as direct tension test. It was
reported that direct tensile and flexural strengths
of the concrete are less sensitive to an increase in
the strain rate than the splitting tensile strength.
It was also reported that specimens tested using
direct or splitting tensile tests exhibited a lower
tensile strength than specimens tested under four-
point loading.
Different procedures were used in the previous
research studies for measuring the direct tensile
strength of the concrete. However, these methods
of testing suffered several major problems such as
the load eccentricity and the fracture at the ends of
the tested specimens due the high stress concentra-
tion. It is noted that the tensile strength capacity of
the concrete is usually estimated from flexural and
splitting tensile strengths of concrete (Alhussainy
et al. 2016).
Due to the aforementioned difficulties in per-
forming the direct tensile testing for the concrete, in
addition to further increase in difficulties resulting
from addition of steel fibres, the current informa-
tion in the literature about the tensile behaviour of
High Strength Concrete (HSC) and Steel Fibre High

487
Strength Concrete (SFHSC) is limited. This study
investigates the behaviour of the HSC and SFHSC
under uniaxial tension. The adopted method of
testing developed at the University of Wollongong
(Alhussainy et al. 2016) overcame the difficulties in
testing the HSC and SFHSC in uniaxial tension and
provided more precise and reliable results.
2  Research significance
The behaviour of HSC and SFHSC under direct
uniaxial tension was investigated in a limited
number of studies. This study investigates the influ-
ence of the addition of steel fibres on the perform-
ance of HSC under uniaxial tension. Furthermore,
the results of this study contribute in enriching the
apparent limited knowledge on the stress-strain
behaviour of HSC and SFHSC in tension, includ-
ing the post-peak response.
3 Experimental Program
3.1  Materials
Ready mix High Strength Concrete (HSC) pro-
vided by a local company was used in casting
all specimens. The mix proportion of the HSC
is presented in Table  1. Brass coated steel fibres
provided by Ganzhou Daye Metallic Fibres Com-
pany, China was used for the SFHSC specimens.
The steel fibres were straight with 0.2 mm diameter
Table 1.  High strength concrete mix proportion.
Material Quantity
Cement 576 kg/m3
Flay ash 64 kg/m3
Silica fume 30 kg/m3
Fine aggregate 540 kg/m3
Coarse aggregate* 990 kg/m3
Water 197 kg/m3
Mid-range water reducing admixture 6 l/m3
*Maximum aggregate size is 10 mm.
Table 2.  Summary of the testing results for HSC and SFHSC.
488
and 13 mm length (aspect ratio of 65). The tensile
strength of steel fibres is 2500 MPa.
For the plain HSC concrete specimens, the HSC
mix was poured from the truck mixer directly into
the moulds prepared for the HSC specimens. The
SFHSC mix was prepared using a small lab mixer.
First, the ready HSC concrete mix was placed in the
lab mixer and then steel fibres with volume fraction
of 1% were added gradually to the concrete mix. To
achieve a uniform distribution of steel fibres inside
the concrete, steel fibres were added to the HSC
ready mix slowly by using a sieve with suitable open-
ings to prevent the congestion of the fibres on the
paddle which might lead to balling of steel fibres.
Afterwards, the SFHSC mix was used in casting
the SFHSC specimens. The compressive strength
of HSC and SFHSC was obtained according to AS
1012.9 (2014). The indirect tensile strength (Bra-
zil or splitting test) of the HSC and SFHSC was
determined according to AS 1012.10 (2014), while
the flexural strength (modulus of rupture) of the
HSC and SFHSC was determined according to AS
1012.11 (2014). Table  2 presents the mechanical
properties of HSC and SFHSC specimens includ-
ing the results of the direct tensile testing.
3.2  Testing procedure
As mentioned above, different methods were used in
the previous research studies for determining the ten-
sile strength of the concrete under uniaxial tension.
Based on the techniques used for gripping the ends
of the concrete specimens to the testing machine,
four main techniques were used: direct tensile test-
ing by means of truncated cones in Elvery and
Haroun (1968), embedded steel bars in Xie and Liu
(1989), gluing in Ueda et al. (1994) and direct tensile
testing using lateral gripping technique in Baishya
et  al. (1997). These testing methods, however,
encountered several major defects such as imperfect
alignment, non-uniform fracture plane, secondary
flexure experienced by the concrete specimens dur-
ing the test, slippage and high stress concentration
at the ends of the specimen due to gripping tech-
niques. The testing method adopted in this study
is a modified approach for the existing embedded
bar method developed by Alhussainy et al. (2016).
Wooden boxes 100  ×  100  ×  500  mm were used as
moulds for the testing specimens Figure 1.
The modifications of the test method adopted in
this study contributed in overcoming the problems
related to the previous testing methods. The weak
bond between the concrete and the embedded steel
bars, and the stresses concentration at the ends of
the tested specimen were mitigated by using special
steel claws (Figure  1). The claws were made form
threaded steel bars of 20 mm in diameter and 250 mm
in length. The steel claws were embedded in the both
ends of each specimen to a length of 125 mm. Four
Figure 1.  Completed Formwork for pouring HSC and
SFHSC.
Figure 2.  Schematic of directed tensile testing formwork for HSC and SFHSC.
489
steel pins of 8 mm in diameter and 30 mm in length
were welded to the embedded part of each steel claw
to increase the bond strength between the claws and
the concrete. The distance between the welded steel
pins were kept constant at 20  mm. Also the angle
between the welded steel pins was kept constant at
90 degrees. In addition, a steel washer welded at the
middle of threated bars and a nut was used to fix
the position of the steel claws in the centre of the
wooden moulds as shown in Figure 2.
In order to induce the fracture in the middle of
the tested specimens, two pieces of timbers were
glued inside the wooden box in a vertical position
Figures  1 and 2. The wooden timbers were a tri-
angle: 100 mm long, 10 mm high and 20 mm wide
(base), as shown in Figure 2. The triangle timbers
resulted in a 20% reduction in the cross-sectional
area in the middle of the tested specimens, which
allows the fracture to occur in the middle of the
specimens.
The load eccentricity and the secondary flex-
ure that might be experienced by the concrete
specimens during the test were avoided by using
universal joints designed at the University of Wol-
longong, Australia. The universal joints allow
movement at both ends of each tested specimen in
order to achieve a perfect alignment for specimen
between the jaws of the testing machine during
the test.
Figure 3.  Direct tensile testing setup.

Besides, the universal joints contributed in over-

coming any defects due to misalignment of the claws
that might occur during the casting of the speci-
men. Figure  3  shows the Instron testing machine
which was used in testing all specimens. Figure  3
also shows a close-up view for the universal joints.
The lower half of the specimens was lightly held
in place during the test using a strap to prevent the
sudden fall after failure. Figure 4.  Failure mode of tested specimens.

4 results and discussion

For direct tensile testing, all specimens fractured

in the middle where the cross-sectional area of the
specimens was reduced by 20%, as shown in Fig-
ure 4. The reduction of the cross-sectional area of
the specimens contributed in preventing the failure
of the specimens to occur at undesirable locations
along the length of the specimens. The reduced
area of the specimens in the middle led to con-
centrating the stresses in the middle of the speci-
mens resulting in a uniform fracture plane at this
location. No crushing failure was observed at the
ends of all specimens during the test, which was an
indication that the steel claws produced a strong
and uniformly distributed bond with the concrete.
Besides, none of the specimens experienced a sec-
ondary flexure (load eccentricity) as a result of
using the universal joints which provided proper
alignments during the test.
Table  2  summarizes the mechanical properties
of HSC and SFHSC obtained from the direct ten- Figure 5.  Axial load-axial deformation behaviour of: (a)
sile testing and the concrete standard tests. HSC and (b) SFHSC specimens under uniaxial tension.

490
 The average direct tensile strength for the HSC
and SFHSC were found to be 3.5 and 4.1  MPa,
respectively. The average direct tensile strength
of HSC was found to be 30 and 40% less than the
average splitting tensile and flexural strengths of
HSC, respectively. Also, the average direct tensile
strength of SFHSC was found to be 36 and 41%
less than the average splitting tensile and flexural
strengths of SFHSC, respectively.
The axial load-axial deformation behaviour of
HSC and SFHSC specimens under uniaxial ten-
sion is shown in Figures  5a and 5b, respectively.
The stress-strain behaviour of the HSC and
SFHSC specimens under uniaxial tension is pre-
sented in Figures 6a and 6b, respectively.
All HSC specimens failed immediately once
they reached the peak stress in tension. The total
loss in the tensile strength of the plain HSC speci-
mens under uniaxial tension was attributed to the
complete fracture of the concrete specimens in
the middle. On the other hand, the failure of the
SFHSC started with a partial crack in the middle
of the specimens which resulted in a drop in the
peak stress of about 50%. The presence of the steel
fibre in the plane of the fracture contributed in
arresting the propagation of the crack resulted in
a gradual decrease in the stress-strain behaviour of
SFHSC until failure.
The relationships between the direct tensile
strength and compressive, splitting tensile and flex-
ural strengths were evaluated and listed in Table 3.
The results showed that the ratio of the average
direct tensile strength to the average compressive
strength was about 4.1 for HSC. The ratio of aver-
age splitting tensile to the compressive strength
and flexural strength to the compressive strength
were about 6.1 and 7.0, respectively for HSC.
Addition of steel fibres to the HSC increased
the ratios of flexural and direct tensile strengths
to the compressive strength by about 7%. It was
observed that the increase in the ratio of splitting
tensile strength to the compressive strength for the
addition of steel fibres was 13%. The increase in
the ratio of splitting tensile strength to the com-
pressive strength for SFHSC was about 5% higher
than the increase in the ratio of flexural and direct
tensile strengths to the compressive strength. The
higher increase of the ratio of splitting tensile
strength to the compressive strength was attributed
to the larger plane area of the cylindrical speci-
men (150 mm × 300 mm) that was subjected to the
applied splitting tensile load (Plane A in Fig.  7)
compared to the plane area of the prism specimens
Table  3.  Relationship between compressive, splitting
tensile, direct tensile and flexural strengths of HSC and
SFHS.

High Steel Fibre

Strength High Strength
Concrete  Concrete
Relationship (HSC) (SFHSC)

Splitting tensile strength 6.1% 6.9%

to compressive strength
Flexural strength to 7.0% 7.5%
compressive strength
Direct tensile strength to 4.1% 4.4%
compressive strength
Direct tensile strength to 67% 62%
splitting tensile strength
Direct tensile strength to 60% 59%
flexural strength

Figure  6.  Tensile stress-strain behaviour of: (a) HSC Figure 7. Plane under load in splitting tensile, flexural
and (b) SFHSC. and direct tensile tests.

491
(100 mm × 100 mm and 100 mm × 80 mm) tested
under flexural and direct tensile testing (Planes B
and C in Fig. 7), respectively.
The direct tensile strength of HSC specimens
was found to be 67% of the HSC splitting tensile
strength. However, it was reported that the direct
tensile strength of the NSC is about 90% of the split-
ting tensile strength (AS 3600-09, EC2 and Alhus-
sainy 2016). Also, it was observed that the direct
tensile strength of the HSC specimens was about
60% of the flexural strength. However, the direct
tensile strength of the SFHSC was found to be 60
and 59% of the splitting tensile and flexural strength,
respectively. Moreover, the modulus of elasticity of
the HSC in tension was found to be about two-thirds
of the modulus of elasticity in compression. Addi-
tion of 1% by volume steel fibres to the HSC was
found to have insignificant influence on the modulus
of elasticity of the HSC in tension.
5  CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions can be drawn based on
the results obtained from the experimental pro-
gram performed in this study on the direct tensile
testing of the High Strength Concrete (HSC) and
Steel Fibres High Strength Concrete (SFHSC).
1. The method adopted in this study in carrying
out the direct tensile testing of the specimens was
found to be efficient in providing adequate grip-
ping and preventing slippage, flexural induced
cracking and crushing failure at the ends of the
tested specimens. Moreover, the adopted direct
tensile testing method was found to be effective
in ensuring that specimens failed in the middle
which was the intended location for the failure.
2. The average direct tensile strength for the HSC
and SFHSC specimens were found to be 3.5 and
4.1 MPa, respectively.
3. The direct tensile strength of the HSC was
about 67% and 60% of the splitting tensile and
flexural strength of HSC, respectively. Whereas,
the direct tensile strength of the SFHSC was
found to be 60 and 59% of the splitting tensile
and flexural strength of SFHSC, respectively.
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