Study of the flexural behaviour of steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) segmental tunnel lining

Abstract

The use of Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) in precast underground tunnel lining design is getting more popular in the construction industry due to its vast advantages. However, the structural performance of the material and design guide is still not well set by both codes and standards. Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) notices the huge potential and prospects in using SFRC in its underground Mass Rapid Transit tunnels. LTA conducted a series of laboratory test on cubes, prisms, and segments samples with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) with the supervision of Associate Professor Susanto Teng, to determine the material behavior and structural properties of SFRC so that it can be used for future development in the use of SFRC for our segmental tunnel lining design. For this project, tests were carried out on SFRC cubes and prisms, and segment with steel fibre content of 30 and 40kg/m3. The characteristic 28-day compressive strength was about 60MPa. The samples were cast and produced by Pan-United Concrete Pte Ltd. The same production technique, molds, materials and forms were used to produce the four concrete segments.