Deflection behavior of concrete beams reinforced with PVA micro-fibers

This paper presents experimental and theoretical investigations on the stress–strain and load–deflection behavior of Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) microfiber reinforced concrete composites. The actual stress–strain relationships in both compression and tension were established by performing a series of compression and tension tests on PVA micro-fibers reinforced concrete specimens. The proposed deflection model was developed by using the well known moment–curvature and conjugate beam methods. Comparisons with the experimental data indicated that the model can be efficiently used to predict the load–deflection behavior of the microfiber reinforced concrete beams. Flexural results indicated that the addition of PVA micro-fibers significantly increases toughness and ductility.