Numerical analysis of shrinkage of steel fiber reinforced high-strength concrete subjected to thermal loading

In this study, a numerical investigation is conducted to simulate the total shrinkage strain of High-Strength Concrete (HSC) and Steel Fiber Reinforced High-Strength concrete (SFRHSC) by means of the transient thermal-stress analysis. The ANSYS finite element software has been used in order to evaluate the shrinkage by taking into account both the thermal and mechanical properties of the concrete. These properties are calculated using the maturity concept and the two-phase serial model. The experimental work was carried out to assess the influence of the external temperatures, steel fibers (SF) and their volume fraction on the total shrinkage strain of the SFRHSC which has been exposed to isothermal temperature of 20, 35 and 50 °C. Two dosages of 0.5% and 1% for the SF with aspect ratio of 55 have been considered. The main results obtained from the FE analysis show a good agreement with the founded experimental results under different thermal conditions. According to the obtained numerical results, an increase of the dosage of fibers will reduce the total shrinkage strain. Additionally, the curing temperature raises significantly the evolution of the total shrinkage strain.