Performance evaluation of steel fibres reinforced concrete precast tunnel segment joint specimens

In recent years, there is a trend of using steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) as tunnel lining segment in replacement of conventional reinforced concrete lining due to the advantages of crack minimisation, corrosion control and cost efficiency that SFRC tunnel segment lining brings along. Being a new and innovative construction material, detailed studies and information on the analysis of SFRC tunnel lining segment joint connection is limited. The aim of this project is to review the loading capacity and failure mode of SFRC tunnel lining segment joint connection. Post-tensioning end block design methods with appropriate assumptions are also adopted in the analysis of the structural performance of SFRC joint specimens. The project is divided into four major phases. The first phase involves reviewing the development, design methods and associated theories of post-tensioning end block design for application to SFRC joint specimens. In the second phase, experimental works are carried out on cubes, cylinders and eight joint specimens for data collection. The third phase consists of data analysis and evaluation of experimental results against theoretical results. The last phase draws up conclusion on the feasibility of post-tensioning end block design for SFRC joint specimen analysis. The results attained from experiment affirm the feasibility of post-tensioning end block design concept to the loading capacity and failure mode of SFRC tunnel lining segment joint connection. British Standard (BS) provision is proven to be the most suitable for applying to SFRC analysis. Appropriate modification to the existing BS equation is carried out to account for the factor of safety in applying to the analysis of SFRC tunnel lining segment joint connection loading capacity.Bachelor of Engineerin