Shear Strength of Synthetic Fiber-Reinforced Concrete

Box Culverts
Mahnaz Mostafazadeh, Ph.D., A.M.ASCE1; Ali Abolmaali, Ph.D., P.E., A.M.ASCE2;
and Masoud Ghahremannejad, Ph.D., A.M.ASCE3
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Louisiana Dept Trans & Dev on 06/19/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Abstract: This paper presents experimental and numerical investigations of the shear strength of synthetic fiber-reinforced concrete (SYN-
FRC) box culverts designed for fill height of 610 mm (2 ft) or less and subjected to the American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials (AASHTO) HL-93 wheel load. Shear and flexure material tests associated with numerical analysis were conducted to
obtain the material properties of concrete with compressive strength of 34 MPa (5,000 psi) and synthetic volume fraction of 0.52%. The mate-
rial tests showed that the shear and flexure strength of SYN-FRC were greater than those of plain concrete (without adding fiber). The flexure
material test showed that SYN-FRC can carry load even after concrete cracking, unlike the plain concrete, which collapses immediately after
cracking. In addition, four full-scale SYN-FRC box culverts were tested in the laboratory, and numerical models were calibrated, using experi-
mental data. The load was applied through a rigid steel plate at distance d from the tip of the haunch to satisfy the AASHTO HL-93 wheel load
requirements. The selected load location was a critical section for the shear and imposed shear failure mode. A comparison of box culverts
with and without synthetic fibers revealed that adding a synthetic fiber volume fraction of 0.52% increased the shear capacity and the ductility.
All specimens failed in the shear failure mode associated with an inclined shear crack from the tip of the haunch to the middle of the loading
plate. The results demonstrated that synthetic fibers can be a viable alternative to shear transverse reinforcements. Additionally, numerical ver-
ification of SYN-FRC box culverts validates the use of a concrete, brittle, cracking material model for simulating SYN-FRC in the finite-
element method (FEM). DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0001402. © 2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
Author keywords: Synthetic fibers; Box culverts; Experimental program; Shear strength; Finite-element; AASHTO HL-93 wheel load.

Introduction
Precast concrete box culverts are among the most multipurpose
and cost-effective precast concrete products on the market today,
and the manufacturers offer a wide variety of standard box cul-
verts, as well as custom designs. Their uses are seemingly bound-
less: underpasses, service tunnels, channels, outfalls, bridges, etc.
ASTM Specification C1577 (ASTM 2017) specifies the design
and manufacturing requirements that enhance their quality and
durability.
The cross section of a typical box culvert is presented in Fig. 1.
Precast concrete box culverts are produced in a range of standard
span and rise combinations, with the sections typically defined by
their span, rise, wall and slab thickness, and height of fill as meas-
ured from finished grade to the top of the box section. The stand-
ard span per ASTM C1433 (ASTM 2003) and C1577 (ASTM
2017) varies from 910 to 3,660 mm (3 to 12 ft), and the rise varies
from 610 to 3,660 mm (2 to 12 ft), both in 304.8-mm (1-ft)
1
Postdoctoral Fellow, Civil Engineering Dept., Univ. of Texas at
Arlington, 425 Nedderman Hall, 416 Yates St., Arlington, TX 76019 (corre-
sponding author). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9444-2015. Email:
mahnaz.mostafazadeh@mavs.uta.edu
2
Professor, Civil Engineering Dept., Univ. of Texas at Arlington, 425
Nedderman Hall, 416 Yates St., Arlington, TX 76019.
3
Research Assistant, Civil Engineering Dept., Univ. of Texas at
Arlington, 425 Nedderman Hall, 416 Yates St., Arlington, TX 76019.
Note. This manuscript was submitted on January 15, 2018; approved
on November 30, 2018; published online on March 19, 2019. Discussion
period open until August 19, 2019; separate discussions must be submitted
for individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Bridge
Engineering, © ASCE, ISSN 1084-0702.
increments. The inside corners of the walls and slabs are tapered
to create a haunch, with dimensions equal to the wall thickness,
horizontally and vertically. The precast reinforced box sections
can be produced by either the dry-cast or wet-cast method, but are
typically dry-cast, with batches designed to yield 34.5 MPa
(5,000 psi). Dry-casting is characterized by the use of a very low
water/cement (w/c) ratio of 0.35 or less.
Under certain circumstances, box culverts might require shear
reinforcement of the internal and external cages’ top, bottom, and
side walls. This would be necessary if the fill above the top of the
box section is higher than that tabulated in ASTM C1577 (ASTM
2017); the live load exceeds HL-93, the design tandem permitted by
AASHTO (2017); or the box dimensions are beyond those men-
tioned in the ASTM C1577 (ASTM 2017) specification. The use of
stirrups is the most prevalent problem associated with the design of
box culverts because of the cost of labor and materials. Hence, man-
ufacturers usually avoid using them by increasing either the con-
crete compressive strength or the slab thickness.
There are some limitations to increasing concrete compressive
strength according to design specification (AASHTO 2017), and
changing the slab thickness is not always an available solution
because the manufacturers’ forms are typically fixed and are not ad-
justable. Studies by Boulekbache et al. (2012), Wilson and
Abolmaali (2013), Peyvandi et al. (2013), and Mostafazadeh and
Abolmaali (2016) have shown that synthetic fiber-reinforced con-
crete (SYN-FRC) performs impressively in increasing tensile and
shear strength of concrete and can be a desirable and economical al-
ternative for designing underground structures such as box culverts.
Boulekbache et al. (2012) investigated and compared the influence
of workability and compressive strength of concrete on the behavior
of fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) and direct shear. The parameters
considered were the steel fiber content, the aspect ratio of fibers,

© ASCE 04019039-1 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 04019039

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Louisiana Dept Trans & Dev on 06/19/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
Fig. 1. Typical box sections for fill heights up to 2 ft.
and the concrete strength. Three types of concrete with various lev-
els of compressive strength and yield stress were examined:
Ordinary concrete (OC), self-compacting concrete (SCC), and
high-strength concrete (HSC). The results revealed that the fiber
content, fiber aspect ratio, and concrete strength influence the shear
strength and ductility considerably, and that the workability of con-
crete has an important effect on the orientation and distribution of
the fibers in the matrix. Moreover, the ductility in direct shear
depends on the fiber orientation and is significantly improved when
the fibers are perpendicular to the shear plane. Wilson and
Abolmaali (2013) compared synthetic and steel fibers, using ASTM
C1609 (ASTM 2011), flexural beam, and ASTM C39 (ASTM
2015b) compressive cylinder testing. The results indicated that the
use of steel and synthetic fibers improved the flexural strength of
concrete and changed mostly the post-peak behavior of concrete
by reducing concrete brittleness (ACI 2017). Peyvandi et al.
(2013) conducted comprehensive experimental research to evalu-
ate the efficiency of different synthetic fibers (aramid, Arkansas-
glass, carbon, and polyvinyl alcohol) applied in various volume
fractions in dry-cast, lean, zero-slump concrete pipe production.
Large-scale structural evaluation of the concrete pipes indicated a
30% improvement in their load-carrying capacity and a 50%
reduction of welded wire fabric steel reinforcement layers.
This two-phase research is part of a comprehensive study on
how to enhance the shear capacity of box culverts, using synthetic
fibers. The first phase consisted of three material tests, with greater
focus on the shear test (Mostafazadeh and Abolmaali 2016). A total
of 60 beams were tested (five different fiber volume fractions),
based on the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) G-553 (JSCE
1999) and ASTM C1609 (ASTM 2011), to extract the shear and
flexural behavior of SYN-FRC elements, respectively, for concrete
with compressive strengths of 28 MPa (4,000 psi) and 34 MPa
(5,000 psi). The concrete used in this study was dry-cast and zero
slump, which is typically used for mass production of concrete
pipes, manholes, and box culverts, because the forms can be
stripped as soon as the concrete has been consolidated. The results
of this phase were utilized to develop the material behavior of SYN-
FRC, using finite-element analysis (FEA), to model and analyze the
various sizes of the SYN-FRC box culverts.
© ASCE 04019039-2
J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 04019039
The second phase focused more on the shear behavior of the
SYN-FRC box culverts and on conventional reinforcement. Four
full-scale tests were conducted on precast box culverts made with
concrete containing 0.52% synthetic fiber volume fraction. The
results were used to validate the SYN-FRC box culverts simulated
by the finite-element method (FEM).
Four full-scale box culverts with different slab lengths and rein-
forcements were tested up to failure by subjecting each culvert to
the AASHTO HL-93 wheel load (AASHTO 2017). An increase in
the shear strength of a box culvert with fiber was compared with a
similar box culvert with no fiber. To simulate the experimental
results in FEM, complete and detailed three-dimensional finite-
element models of the test specimens were developed and analyzed
with ABAQUS 6.14 software (ABAQUS 2018). The load-
deflection plots and the crack patterns obtained from the FEM anal-
yses were compared with those gained from the experimental
results. It was concluded that there was good agreement between
the FEM and experimental results.
Phase I: Investigation of Synthetic Fiber-Reinforced
Concrete Material Properties
Experimental Program
Materials and Specimens
BASF Chemical Company’s (BASF Chemical Company 2012)
macro synthetic fibers, made from a blend of polypropylene resins,
met the requirements of ASTM C1116 (ASTM 2015a) and were
used for this study. Table 1 gives the physical properties of the
fibers. Typically, synthetic fibers are used for reinforcing concrete
in order to control shrinkage, temperature, and settlement cracking;
increase flexural toughness and impact resistance; and improve re-
sidual strength, durability, and cohesion (BASF Chemical
Company 2012). Fig. 2 presents the type of fiber applied in this
research.
Table 2 presents the mix design for 34 MPa (5,000 psi) compres-
sive strength dry-cast concrete, to which a 0.52% synthetic fiber
volume fraction was added. The synthetic fibers were introduced
J. Bridge Eng.
 into the mixer after all of the dry aggregates, sand and stone, had
been thoroughly mixed together. Then the water was gradually
added to the mixer. After the water, aggregates, and fibers were
well blended, the cementitious materials were added to the mixer.
This approach was taken to ensure uniform distribution of the fibers
throughout the entirety of the mixture. Fresh concrete was poured
into molds, placed on a concrete vibrating table, and compacted
with rammers. For each fiber dosage (0.0 and 0.52%), six 100 mm
(4 in.) diameter  200 mm (8 in.) long cylinders were made for the
Table 1. Physical properties of BASF synthetic fiber
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Louisiana Dept Trans & Dev on 06/19/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
compression tests in accordance with ASTM C39 (ASTM 2015b).
In addition, three 150  150  500 mm (6  6  20 in.) beams
were cast to conduct the flexure test, based on ASTM C1609
(ASTM 2011), and three 150  150  500 mm (6  6  20 in.)
beams were cast to determine the shear capacity, according to
JSCE-SF6 (JSCE 1999) for each fiber dosage (0.0 and 0.52%).
After casting, the specimens were covered with plastic sheets for
24 h, then were placed in a curing room for 7 days.
Test Setups
The Japan Society of Civil Engineering’s (JSCE) test method (with
some modifications) was selected for extracting the shear properties
of SYN-FRC. Fig. 3 provides the schematic of the shear test setup

Property Value
used in this research. The loading protocol followed the displace-
Specific gravity 0.91 ment control algorithm with a rate of 0.001 mm/s (0.00004 in./s).
Melting point 160°C (320°F) The displacement of the specimen, parallel to the shear plane in the
Ignition point 590°C (1,094°F) middle of the beam, was measured by two linear variable displace-
Absorption Nil ment transducers (LVDTs). The load-deflection curve was plotted,
Alkali resistance Excellent based on the average of three beam test results (the results of all
Tensile strength 585 MPa (85 Ksi) three samples with 0.52% fiber volume fraction and the average of
Length 54 mm (2.1 in.) them have been presented in this figure). Fig. 4 depicts the JSCE
Aspect ratio 67 shear test results for SYN-FRC with 34 MPa (5,000 psi) compres-
Fiber type Embossed sive strength and 0.52 and 0% (plain concrete) fiber volume frac-
Material 100% virgin polypropylene tion. The flexural behavior of SYN-FRC was investigated based
Chemical resistance Excellent on ASTM C1609 (ASTM 2011). All of the flexural beams were
Modulus of elasticity 6,900 MPa (1,000 Ksi) 150 150  500 mm (6  6  20 in.), and they were all tested af-
Density 908 kg/m3 (1,530 lb/yd3) ter 7 days of curing. From this test, first peak and peak load before
failure were determined, as well as the load-deflection curve up to
the specified deflection (L/150). It should be noted that the
applied displacement for loading was 0.05 mm/min (0.002 in./
min). Fig. 5 presents the flexural beam test setup. Fig. 6 illustrates
the load-deflection plot attained from the flexural test conducted
on the beam specimens with and without fibers. Each curve repre-
sents the average of the test results of the three beam specimens
(the results of all three samples with 0.52% fiber volume fraction
and the average of them have been presented in this figure).
To evaluate the compressive strength of FRC, six cylinders
were cast for each target fiber dosage (0.52 and 0% fiber volume
fractions). After 7 days, all cylinders were capped according to
ASTM C617 “Standard Practice for Capping Cylindrical Concrete
Specimens” (ASTM 2015c) and were tested based on ASTM C39

Fig. 2. MasterFiber MAC Matrix synthetic fibers.

Table 2. 34 MPa (5,000 psi) dry-cast concrete mix design

Mixture ingredient Value

3 3
Cement [kg/m (lb/yd )] 474 (800)
Water [kg/m3 (lb/yd3)] 166 (280)
Sand [kg/m3 (lb/yd3)] 575 (970)
9.5 mm (3/8 in.) aggregate [kg/m3 (lb/yd3)] 1,180 (1,990)
Super plasticizer [kg/m3 (lb/yd3)] 0.45 (1)
w/c 0.36
Compressive strength {7 days [MPa (psi)]} 34 (5,000)
Synthetic fiber [kg/m3 (lb/yd3)] 3.62 (8) Fig. 3. Shear test setup.

© ASCE 04019039-3 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 04019039

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Louisiana Dept Trans & Dev on 06/19/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
Fig. 4. Load-deflection curve based on JSCE shear test for concrete with 34 MPa-specified compressive strength.
Fig. 5. Flexural test setup according to ASTM C1609.
“Standard Test Method for Compressive Strength of Cylindrical
Concrete Specimens” (ASTM 2015b). From this testing, the maxi-
mum compressive load at failure was determined. The rate of load-
ing was kept at 35 6 7 psi/s (0.25 6 0.05 MPa/s) as described in
ASTM C39. The compressive strength of each fiber dosage (the av-
erage of six cylinders) and the related standard deviation is shown in
Table 3.
Numerical Study
In order to capture the tensile behavior of SYN-FRC, a three-
dimensional full-scale model was built, using the ABAQUS 6.14
software (ABAQUS 2018) and based on the ASTM C1609 (ASTM
2011) beam test setup. Eight-noded isoperimetric solid elements
with hourglass control and reduced integration algorithm were used
for modeling beam, supports, and also loading plates (Fig. 13). A
concrete brittle cracking model (ABAQUS 2018) was used to pres-
ent the mechanical behavior of SYN-FRC in the numerical model-
ing. In order to calibrate the material model defined in the
© ASCE
J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 04019039
ABAQUS software, an inverse analysis, using the experimental
data, was performed. To date, a number of constitutive models for
steel-fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC) have been identified,
such as those proposed by RILEM, Barros, Lok, Tlemat, and
others (Abbas et al. 2016). They developed the model and then
compared the FEM results with experimental ones in order to
calibrate the model. Results showed that the Lok and Xiao model
demonstrated reasonable agreement with experimental results
and was able to simulate the SFRC even at high fiber concentra-
tion. In this research, we derived the SYN-FRC material model
by following the Lok and Xiao model and applying some modifi-
cation. The authors also used the result of shear test for introduc-
ing the shear retention property in the concrete brittle cracking
model. An inverse analysis was used in order to calibrate the ma-
terial model defined in the ABAQUS software with experimental
data. Three-dimensional solid elements, with consideration of
material nonlinearities, were chosen to simulate the beam. The
model also included two narrow loading strips with dimensions
of 127  127 mm (0.3  6 in.) for applying displacement to the
top of the beam, and two supports with the same dimensions at
the bottom of the beam on both sides for preventing the beam
from moving down. As presented in Fig. 7, the FEM model met
all of the boundary conditions of the ASTM C1609 (ASTM
2011) test setup. The concrete brittle cracking model was used
for the whole beam and had a density of 2,400 kg/m3 (150 pcf),
modulus of elasticity of 27,790 MPa (4,030.5 Ksi), and Poisson’s
ratio of 0.25.
Fig. 8 presents good agreement between the FEM and the test
results for the 34 MPa (5,000 psi) concrete-specified compressive
strength. The concrete brittle cracking model satisfied the tensile
behavior of concrete with 0.52% fiber volume fraction. As pre-
sented in Fig. 8, the flexural behavior of ASTM C1609 (ASTM
2011) beams can be accurately predicted by using concrete brittle
cracking. By carrying out a comparison between obtained FEM
results and existing experimental results of ASTM C1609 (ASTM
2011), an appropriate tensile strain-softening behavior was devel-
oped in this study and used for investigating the structural behavior
of SYN-FRC box culverts in Task II of this research. Based on the
previous published work by Lok and Xiao (1999), the compressive
behavior of FRC can be safely considered to be similar to that of
plain concrete (no fiber).
04019039-4 J. Bridge Eng.
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Louisiana Dept Trans & Dev on 06/19/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
Fig. 6. Load-deflection plot based on ASTM C1609 beam test for concrete with and without fiber.
Table 3. Compression test results for 0 and 0.52% fiber volume fractions
Vol. fraction Compressive strength Standard deviation (r)
(VF) (%) [MPa (psi)] [MPa (psi)]
— 34.0 (4,940) 1.24 (180)
0.52 39.9 (5,790) 1.58 (230)
Phase II: Investigation of Synthetic Fiber-Reinforced
Concrete Box Culverts
Laboratory Testing
The scope of this experimental program was to investigate the shear
strength of SYN-FRC box culverts and compare them with ones
without fibers. In 2007, Garg (2007) studied the shear behavior and
capacity of 24 precast concrete box culverts subjected to HS-20
truck wheel load, with the wheel load applied at different distances
from the tip of the haunch. Based on their investigation, the most
critical place for putting the 250  510  25.4 mm (10  20  1 in.)
load plate is at a distance d, from the tip of the haunch to the edge of
the load plate (d is the effective depth of the top slab for positive
moment). The load was applied gradually through the actuator in
the form of load control to the middle of the steel plate, and the cul-
vert deflection was measured by two potentiometers. This study
continues the previous investigation, but with SYN-FRC, along
with regular reinforcement.
Specimens
Full-scale experimental tests were performed on four box culverts
with three different spans of 1,220 (4), 2,440 (8), and 3,660 mm
(12 ft) as per ASTM C1433 (ASTM 2003) and ASTM C1577
(ASTM 2017). All of the specimens were reinforced with 0.52%
fiber volume fraction. The rise of all of the box culverts was
1,440 mm (4 ft). The wall and the slab thickness of 4  4 ft and
12  4 ft box culverts were 200 (8) and 300 mm (12 in.), respec-
tively, for boxes designed based on ASTM C1433 (ASTM 2003).
The other two box culverts followed ASTM C1577 (ASTM 2017)
design criteria. The geometric detail of all of the box culverts is
given in Table 4. Plain welded wires were used for the reinforcement
© ASCE 04019039-5
J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 04019039
of the cages, as per ASTM A185 (ASTM 2005). The sizes of the
steel wires were W2.5 to W9.0, with the nominal area of 16.13 mm2
(0.025 in2) through 58.06 mm2 (0.09 in2) per reinforced wire.
Typical spacing of wires was 50 (2), 75 (3), and 200 mm (8 in.).
Details of reinforcement for all tested box culverts are given in
Table 5.
Test Setup and Instrumentations
A 250  510  25.4 mm (10  20  1 in.) mild steel load plate, sup-
ported by a 12.7 mm (1/2 in.) thick rubber sheet, was placed on the
top of the box culvert at the distance d from the tip of the haunch to
the edge of the plate. This was done to simulate the contact area of
the wheel of a HS-20 truck or tandem having an axle load of 142 kN
(32 kips) and wheel load of 71 kN (16 kips). A cylindrical stub col-
umn with 177.8 mm (7 in.) diameter and 508 mm (20 in.) length,
along with an I-beam with enough stiffener on its web, was placed
on top of the load plate to transfer the load from the actuator to the
load plate (Fig. 9). In order to introduce the maximum stress state in
the culvert and to consider the most conservative behavior, each
box culvert was placed directly on a rigid reaction floor. The load
was applied gradually, following the displacement control proce-
dure. The instrumentations used during the test consisted of two
wire potentiometers placed at two different locations (in the middle
of the loading plate and in the center of the box slab, as presented in
Fig. 9), a data acquisition system, and an actuator that was con-
nected to a fixed frame.
Testing Procedure and Crack Monitoring
The load was applied in the form of displacement control from the
actuator to the middle of the steel plate. During the test, after each
crack occurred, a line was drawn to each crack to identify the crack
pattern on either the slab or walls, and the corresponding load for
each crack was written next to the cracks for future evaluations.
Experimental Results and Discussions
Fig. 10 gives the comparison of the experimental results of 12  4 ft
box culverts with and without SYN-FRC, designed based on
ASTM C1433 (ASTM 2003). Since the test on plain concrete (used
J. Bridge Eng.
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Louisiana Dept Trans & Dev on 06/19/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Fig. 7. Developed finite-element model for ASTM C1609 beam test.

Fig. 8. Comparison between FEM and ASTM C1609 flexural beam test results (0.52% VF).

Table 4. Geometric characteristics of box culverts

Span Rise Joint Haunch Th.topslab Th.botslab Th.wall

Specimen ASTM code [mm (ft)] [mm (ft)] [mm (ft)] [mm (in.)] [mm (in.)] [mm (in.)] [mm (in.)]
Box 4  4 ft—1,433 C1433 1,220 (4) 1,220 (4) 1,220 (4) 203.2 (8) 203.2 (8) 203.2 (8) 203.2 (8)
Box 12  4 ft—1,433 C1433 3,660 (12) 1,220 (4) 1,220 (4) 304.8 (12) 304.8 (12) 304.8 (12) 304.8 (12)
Box 4  4 ft—1,577 C1577 1,220 (4) 1,220 (4) 1,220 (4) 127.0 (5) 190.5 (7.5) 152.4 (6) 127.0 (5)
Box 8  4 ft—1,577 C1577 2,440 (8) 1,220 (4) 1,220 (4) 203.2 (8) 203.2 (8) 203.2 (8) 203.2 (8)

Table 5. Reinforcement details of tested box culverts

Circumferential reinforcement areas [mm2/m (in.2/ft)]

Specimen As1 As2 As3 As4 As5 As6 As7 As8
Box 4  4 ft—1,433 381 (0.18) 1,016 (0.48) 571 (0.27) 254 (0.12) 508 (0.24) 381 (0.18) 381 (0.18) 296 (0.14)
Box 12  4 ft—1,433 995 (0.47) 1,058 (0.50) 762 (0.36) 614 (0.29) 614 (0.29) 614 (0.29) 614 (0.29) 614 (0.29)
Box 4  4 ft—1,577 381 (0.18) 699 (0.33) 423 (0.20) 254 (0.12) 381 (0.18) — 381 (0.18) 296 (0.14)
Box 8  4 ft—1,577 571 (0.27) 804 (0.38) 614 (0.29) 402 (0.19) 402 (0.19) — 402 (0.19) 402 (0.19)

© ASCE 04019039-6 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 04019039

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Louisiana Dept Trans & Dev on 06/19/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Fig. 9. Box culverts test setup and instrumentations.

Fig. 10. Comparison of test results for 12  4 ft box culverts with and without synthetic fibers.

conventional reinforcement without adding fiber to concrete) con-
ducted by Garg (2007) followed the force control, the test stopped
after reaching the failure load. However, the recent experimental
tests were performed using a displacement control algorithm, which
enabled access to post-failure behavior. Based on the obtained
results, adding the synthetic fiber to the concrete mix design signifi-
cantly enhanced the shear strength and ductility of the box culvert.
In all of the tests conducted, the load plate was placed on the left
side of the culvert’s top slab. In all of the box culverts, the first crack
was a superficial flexural crack, which occurred on the inside face
of the top slab, directly under the load plate. Flexural cracks con-
tinued to occur in this area throughout the experimental investiga-
tion. As presented in Fig. 11(a), in all of the box culverts, the
main crack was a shear crack that occurred diagonally from the
tip of the left haunch to the middle of the load plate. The details of
the cracking on the top slab and walls of one of the box culverts
are presented in Figs. 11(a–f). The load versus deflection plots (at
the center point of the load plate) for all of the box culverts are
presented in Fig. 12.
Table 6 summarizes the events that occurred during the testing
of each specimen. It should be noted that flexural cracks were mani-
fested first in all of the test specimens, and the initial nonmeasurable
cracks formed on the inside face of the top slab at the vicinity of the
load plate at loads ranging from 245 to 400 kN (from 55 to 90 kip).
Although the original cracks widened slowly, as the load was being
increased, the negative flexural cracks formed on the outside face of
the top slab at loads ranging from 431 to 588 kN (from 90 to
132 kip) for different test specimens. The first flexural cracks on the
outside face of the left wall formed at loads ranging from 315 to
625 kN (from 71 to 140 kip) for different test specimens. It is worth
noting that even though the load plate was located at the distance d
from the tip of the haunch to ensure that the test specimens failed
predominantly in shear, shear cracks were not detected until the
loads reached 355 to 800 kN (from 80 to 180 kips), as given in
Table 6. The ultimate load for all of the test specimens ranged
from 540 to 930 kN (from 88 to 122 kips), with their mode of fail-
ure being shear, combined with flexure. It should be noted that
since the boxes have been manufactured in two different plants

© ASCE 04019039-7 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 04019039

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Louisiana Dept Trans & Dev on 06/19/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Fig. 11. Experimental photographs: (a) crack patterns under the load plate of top slab; (b) inside face of top slab; (c) outside face of top slab;
(d) inside face of bottom slab (no crack); (e) outside face of left wall; and (f) outside face of right wall (Box 12  4 ft—1,433).

and based on two different standards, ASTM C1433 and C1577
(as given in Tables 4 and 5), the main shear crack and ultimate
load occurred in different magnitudes. Since this study aims in
developing the structural behavior of SYN-FRC in the FEM, the
experimental test on boxes with different geometry are mainly
used for this purpose.
Finite-Element Model of Synthetic Fiber-Reinforced
Concrete Box Culverts
To study the shear behavior of box culverts equipped with SYN-
FRC, three-dimensional finite-element models were prepared for all
of the designated box culverts. The material and geometry nonli-
nearities were considered for all of the models. The base support of
the box culvert was modeled as a rigid rectangular block, and the
contact between the box and block was defined as surface-to-sur-
face contact elements. The behavior of the SYN-FRC box culverts
was investigated after the material properties of SYN-FRC were
calibrated in Phase I.
Elements
Solid Elements
Solid elements are the standard volume elements in the ABAQUS
6.14 software (ABAQUS 2018) and can be presented as a single ho-
mogeneous material. These elements are accurate if distortion does
not occur, which is more likely in quadrilaterals and hexahedras. In
this study, eight-node isoperimetric solid elements with hourglass
controls and reduced integration algorithms were used for modeling
box culverts, base supports, and loading plates, as presented in
Fig. 13. Reduced integration was used in lower-order integration to
form the element stiffness in order to reduce computational time.
They are also referred to as uniform strain or centroid strain ele-
ments with hourglass control.

© ASCE 04019039-8 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 04019039

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Louisiana Dept Trans & Dev on 06/19/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Fig. 12. Experimental load-deflection plots for the tested box culverts.

Table 6. Events

Load [kN (kips)]

Event
number Event Box 4  4 ft—1,433 Box 12  4 ft—1,433 Box 4  4 ft—1,577 Box 8  4 ft—1,577
1 First nonmeasurable flexural crack on inside face of top 400 (90) 395 (89) 271 (61) 298 (67)
slab under the load plate
2 First negative flexural crack on outside face of top slab 588 (132) 538 (121) 485 (109) 431 (90)
3 First flexural crack initiated on outside face of left wall 625 (140) 445 (100) 315 (71) 530 (119)
4 First flexural crack initiated on outside face of right wall 625 (140) 800 (180) 373 (84) 365 (82)
5 First shear crack initiated at the loading end 743 (167) 800 (180) 355 (80) 400 (90)
6 Ultimate failure 796 (179) 930 (209) 525 (118) 650 (146)

Fig. 13. C3D8R: eight-node linear brick, reduced integration, hourglass control.

Truss Elements Material Properties

In this study, T3D2, a two-node linear three-dimensional truss element
was used for modeling the reinforcement in a box culvert. As presented A concrete brittle cracking model, with a density of 2,400 kg/m3
in Fig. 14, all of the reinforcements were embedded in the box (150 pcf), modulus of elasticity of 27,790 MPa (4,030.5 Ksi),
culverts. and Poisson’s ratio of 0.25 was considered for the whole box

© ASCE 04019039-9 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 04019039

 Fig. 14. Embedding reinforcements (inner and outer cage) in box culvert.
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Louisiana Dept Trans & Dev on 06/19/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Fig. 15. Developed three-dimensional finite-element model for box

culvert.

culverts. For the cylinder and loading plate, a normal steel prop-
erty with a density of 7,800 kg/m3 (13147 lb/yd3), Young’s mod-
ulus of 200 GPa (29,000,000 psi), and Poisson’s ratio of 0.3 was
selected.

Boundary Conditions and Load Application

A loading plate with dimension of 250  500 mm (10  20 in.) was
modeled to apply the wheel load to the box culverts. A surface-to-sur-
face contact property was assigned between the box culverts and load
plate. In order to provide the same experimental loading condition in
the FEM, a cylinder was modeled on top of the load plate with sur-
face-to-surface contact property, in order to play the stub column
role in the experimental test. For all of the contacts, the strong
Fig. 16. Comparison of crack pattern between (a) experimental; and
surface was considered the master surface, and the other side was
(b) FEM results for box culvert 4  4 ft—1,433 after failure.
considered the slave surface. One of the developed finite-element
models is presented in Fig. 15. The contact property between the
box culvert and the top and bottom plates were surface-to-surface,
Comparison of Finite-Element Method Results with
with both tangential and normal behaviors. As presented in
Experimental Data
Fig. 15, load was applied to the model, following the displace-
ment control algorithm through the cylinder part, which was mod- As presented in Fig. 16, there are strong similarities between the ex-
eled on top of the loading plate. perimental and FEA results as to where the cracks are located on the

© ASCE 04019039-10 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 04019039

 top slab of the box culverts at the last stage of loading (failure). There
is also a good agreement between the FEM results and obtained
results from the test for 34 MPa (5,000 psi) concrete compressive
strength, plotted in Figs. 17–20. Based on the obtained results, it is
concluded that the concrete brittle cracking model for SYN-FRC sat-
isfies the tensile behavior of concrete and would be useful in predict-
ing the structural behavior of SYN-FRC box culverts.
Conclusions
A series of material and structural tests were conducted to investi-
gate the impact of using synthetic fibers on the shear strength of box
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Louisiana Dept Trans & Dev on 06/19/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
per the AASHTO HL-93 (AASHTO 2017) wheel load protocol. A
comparison of the results obtained from this study and the findings
of Garg (2007) has led to the following conclusions.
1. Figs. 4 and 6 indicate that adding 0.52% synthetic fiber volume
fraction to the concrete increases the shear strength and flexural
strength of concrete up to 25 and 18%, respectively. As shown in
these figures, the post-cracking behavior of the tested specimens
were considerably influenced by the bridging effect of fibers.
2. The results of this investigation indicated that FEA enables one
to predict SYN-FRC structure behavior even after peak load by
using a concrete brittle cracking material model. The tension-
softening of concrete material could reasonably represent the
presence of fibers in numerical modeling.

culverts. To this end, the material properties of 5,000 psi (34 MPa)
specified concrete compressive strength equipped with 0.52% syn-
thetic fiber volume fraction were obtained from numerical analysis,
using a brittle crack model and verified by material test results. Four
full-scale SYN-FRC box culverts were experimentally investigated
3. The failure mode of the tested box culverts in this research was
a punching shear failure mode at the top slab. The internal
stresses caused by the external load (AASHTO HL-93) were
redistributed in each loading step due to indeterminacy of the
system. Some flexural cracks occurred all over the specimens

Fig. 17. Comparison between FEM and experimental results for box culvert 4  4 ft—1,433.

Fig. 18. Comparison between FEM and experimental results for box culvert 12  4 ft—1,433.

© ASCE 04019039-11 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 04019039

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Louisiana Dept Trans & Dev on 06/19/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

Fig. 19. Comparison between FEM and experimental results for box culvert 8  4 ft—1,577.

Fig. 20. Comparison between FEM and experimental results for box culvert 4  4 ft—1,577.

in the maximum positive and negative bending moment areas, References

but eventually they failed in punching shear at the top slab
under the applied concentrated load.
4. According to Figs. 17–20, FEA demonstrated an increase of up
to 67% in the shear capacity of tested box culverts reinforced
with 0.52% fiber volume fraction. Based on this study, instead
of using the shear transverse reinforcements or increasing the
top slab thickness in box culverts when the shear load exceeds
the box culvert capacity, using synthetic fiber is an alternative
solution. A comparison of the area under the load-deflection
curve shows that the presence of 0.52% synthetic fiber signifi-
cantly increases dissipated energy in box culverts. Therefore,
since moving traffic load creates a dynamic load on box cul-
verts buried in fill height of 610 mm (2 ft) or less, a high-
energy dissipation capability may prevent sudden failures.
AASHTO. 2017. AASHTO LRFD bridge design specification. 8th ed.
Washington, DC: AASHTO.
ABAQUS. 2018. Abaqus/CAE 6.14 user’s guide. Providence, RI: Dassault
Systèmes Simulia Corp.
Abbas, A. A., S. M. Syed Mohsin, and D. M. Cotsovos. 2016. “A simplified
finite element model for assessing steel fibre reinforced concrete struc-
tural performance.” Comput. Struct. 173 (Sept): 31–49. https://doi.org
/10.1016/j.compstruc.2016.05.017.
ACI (American Concrete Institute). 2017. Report on measuring mechanical
properties of hardened fiber-reinforced concrete. Rep. No. 544.9R-17.
Farmington Hills, MI: ACI.
ASTM. 2003. Standard specification for precast reinforced concrete box
sections for culverts, storm drains, and sewers. C1433-03. West
Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.

© ASCE 04019039-12 J. Bridge Eng.

J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 04019039

 ASTM. 2005. Standard specification for steel welded wire reinforce-
ment, plain, for concrete. A185. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM
International.
ASTM. 2011. Standard test method for flexural performance of fiber-
reinforced concrete (using beam with third-point loading). C1609. West
Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2015a. Standard specification for Fiber-Reinforced concrete.
C1116/C1116M. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2015b. Standard test method for compressive strength of cylindrical
concrete specimens. C39. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2015c. Standard practice for capping cylindrical concrete speci-
mens: Annual book of ASTM standards. C617. West Conshohocken,
PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2017. Precast reinforced concrete monolithic box sections for cul-
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Louisiana Dept Trans & Dev on 06/19/19. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
verts, storm drains, and sewers designed according to AASHTO LRFD.
C1577. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
BASF Chemical Company. 2012. “MasterFiber MAC matrix.” Accessed
January 15, 2018. http://assets.master-builders-solutions.basf.com
/Shared%20Documents/EB%20Construction%20Chemcials%20-%20US
/Admixture%20Systems/Data%20Sheets/MasterFiber/basf-masterfiber
-mac-matrix-tds.pdf.
Boulekbache, B., M. Hamrat, M. Chemrouk, and S. Amziane. 2012.
“Influence of yield stress and compressive strength on direct shear
© ASCE 04019039-13
J. Bridge Eng., 2019, 24(6): 04019039
behaviour of steel fibre-reinforced concrete.” Constr. Build. Mater. 27
(1): 6–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2011.07.015.
Garg, A. K. 2007. Experimental and finite element based investigations of
shear behavior in reinforced concrete box culverts. Arlington, TX:
Univ. of Texas at Arlington.
JSCE (Japan Society of Civil Engineers). 1999. “Commentary on the
test method for shear properties of continuous fiber-reinforcing material
by double plan shear.” JSCE-E 540-1995. Accessed January 15, 2018.
http://www.jsce.or.jp/committee/concrete/e/newsletter/newsletter01
/recommendation/FRP-bar/t-20.pdf.
Lok, T. S., and J. R. Xiao. 1999. “Flexural strength assessment of steel
fiber-reinforced concrete.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 11 (3): 188–196. https://
doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0899-1561(1999)11:3(188).
Mostafazadeh, M., and A. Abolmaali. 2016. “Shear behavior of synthetic
fiber reinforced concrete.” Adv. Civ. Eng. Mater. 5 (1): 371–386. https://
doi.org/10.1520/ACEM20160005.
Peyvandi, A., P. Soroushian, and S. Jahangirnejad. 2013. “Enhancement of
the structural efficiency and performance of concrete pipes through fiber
reinforcement.” Constr. Build. Mater. 45 (Aug): 36–44. https://doi.org
/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.03.084.
Wilson, A., and A. Abolmaali. 2013. “Comparison of material behavior of
steel and synthetic fibers in dry-cast application.” J. Transp. Res. Board
2332 (1): 23–28. https://doi.org/10.3141/2332-03.
J. Bridge Eng.