Equivalence between flexural toughness and energy absorption capacity of FRC

The increase of toughness and residual strengths are the great benefits of incorporating fibres in concrete. However, there is still no agreement regarding the most suitable experimental procedure for its determination and the most accepted and used tests, the bending tests, are complex to execute, require of sophisticated equipment with closed loop control and are unsuitable for the systematic quality control in works. Due to the latter, some authors have proposed equivalences between the different tests with the aim of simplifying the control. This paper presents the first stage of an experimental research in which a linear correlation between the flexural toughness determined by mean of the three-point bending test given in the European standard EN 14651 and the energy absorption capacity determined by square panel test according to EFNARC recommendation, was obtained, with differences less than 13% between the experimental results and predicted values. This achievement will allow to define a flexural equivalent resistance, based on the energy absorption capacity for controlling fibre reinforced concrete properties in the construction of tunnel linings.This research was supported by Fondecyt Project “Use of the Generalized Barcelona Test for Characterization and Quality Control of Fibre Reinforced Shotcretes in Underground Mining Works”, N°1150881.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version