LAUSR

Abstract A comprehensive study was undertaken on 26 slab specimens to investigate the structural behaviour of Ultra High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC) slabs under bending. The experimental study was conducted on various thickness slabs with two different boundary conditions: fully fixed (FF) and simply supported (SS). The effects of boundary conditions on the failure modes, load–displacement behaviour (first cracking load and ultimate load) and crack propagation were investigated using an innovative experimental test setup. The results showed that the appearance of microcracks (hairline cracks) occur at a displacement of around 0.25 to 0.40 mm with the pseudo strain-hardening stage ranging between 0.40 and 5 mm. The experimental test results were used to validate a nonlinear Finite Element (FE) model in ABAQUS/Standard. The numerical simulation and experimental test results were found to be in close agreement for the load–displacement behaviour at first cracking load, ultimate load carrying capacity and crack locations.