Slender Beam

This paper proposes improved shear strength prediction equations for steel fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC) beams from a database of 358 test results without web reinforcement. A parametric study was performed to evaluate the contribution of different parameters on the shear strength of SFRC beams. The factorial design identified the most important parameters and their interactions on the shear strength. The results showed that the interactions were significant. Therefore, nonlinear interaction terms were incorporated in the genetic algorithm to develop equations for deep and slender beams. The results showed that the proposed shear equations produced less scatter with a significant improvement in coefficient of variation, standard deviation, and average absolute error. A design example is presented for a reinforced concrete (RC) beam with steel fibers. It was observed that the steel fibers could reduce the stirrups requirements significantly in the RC beams by providing sufficient shear strength in fiber-concrete matrix.