Experimental Investigation on the Stress–Strain Behavior of Steel Fiber-Reinforced Rubberized Concrete Subjected to Cyclic Compressive Loading

In this paper, the effect of the combination of steel fiber and rubber particles on the compressive behavior of steel fiber-reinforced rubberized concrete (FR-RC) under uniaxial cyclic compression was investigated. A total of 60 specimens with steel fiber volume fractions ranging from 0% to 1.5% and rubber particle volume substitutions ranging from 0% to 20% were fabricated and tested. The compressive stress–strain relationship and the failure mode of FR-RC were examined. The results indicate that the introduction of steel fiber and rubber particles has a synergistic effect on improving the cyclic mechanical behavior of concrete, including ductility, hysteretic energy dissipation, and stiffness degradation. Additionally, increasing the steel fiber and rubber particle content leads to a significant decrease in plastic strain accumulation. Based on the test results, formulas are proposed for the characteristic points of the hysteresis loop, such as the peak strength and strain, residual point, turning point, and end point. Furthermore, a cyclic constitutive model and its simplified form are developed to generalize the cyclic stress–strain behavior of FR-RC.

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