Ductile behavior of high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composite (HPFRCC) frames

High performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composite (HPFRCC) materials exhibit strain-hardening behavior under tensile loading. Therefore, experimental studies were conducted to assess their structural performance and to compare them with normal concrete in reinforced concrete frames. The experimental results for reinforced concrete, reinforced composite, and reinforced HPFRCC frames with fixed foundation are presented herein. They indicate that using HPFRCC materials, instead of normal concrete in RC frames, increased the ultimate load, ultimate deflection, ductility ratio, and plastic hinge characteristics of frames. A 3D nonlinear numerical model was developed also, using the finite element (FE) method, and analytical models calibrated with experimental results and new data were generated. A good agreement between experimental and numerical results was observed.