Testing setup to examine punching shear strength in Self-Compacting Fibre Reinforced Concrete (SCFRC) ribbed slabs

The punching shear resistance and behaviour of self-compacting fibre reinforced concrete (SCFRC) of flat slab were studied in the previous research. Currently, there is limited information available on the ribbed slab, without conventional reinforcement, and using SCFRC as the main material. The extensive convolution of the punching shear behaviour within the concrete and structure itself, and insufficient appropriate test method ascribed to the conventional reinforcement are being used. Hence, the testing setup, to examine the punching shear resistance and behaviour of the ribbed slabs by using SCFRC, was carried out. The substantial experiment on the SCFRC ribbed slabs, prone to punching shear failure, with the designed test arrangement was employed. The association between the punching shear load and the angle of the shear plane, the critical value of the basic control perimeter and the failure mode were studied and analysed from the results obtained. This research gives insight into the punching shear capacity of SCFRC ribbed slabs. The results exemplify and accentuate the advantages of using SCFRC, compared to the normal concrete in structural designs. The punching shear test presented here has established itself as a suitable procedure for testing SCFRC, and potentially, other fibre reinforcement composites.