Fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) is increasingly used in structural applications owing to its benefits in terms of toughness, durability, ductility, construction cost and time. However, research on the creep behavior of FRC has not kept pace with other areas such as short-term properties. Therefore, this study aims to present a comprehensive and critical review of literature on the creep properties and behavior of FRC with recommendations for future research. A transparent literature search and filtering methodology were used to identify studies regarding creep on the single fiber level, FRC material level, and level of structural behavior of FRC members. Both experimental and theoretical research are analyzed. The results of the review show that, at the single fiber level, pull-out creep should be considered for steel fiber-reinforced concrete, whereas fiber creep can be a governing design parameter in the case of polymeric fiber reinforced concrete subjected to permanent tensile stresses incompatible with the mechanical time-dependent performance of the fiber. On the material level of FRC, a wide variety of test parameters still hinders the formulation of comprehensive constitutive models that allow proper consideration of the creep in the design of FRC elements. Although significant research remains to be carried out, the experience gained so far confirms that both steel and polymeric fibers can be used as concrete reinforcement provided certain limitations in terms of structural applications are imposed. Finally, by providing recommendations for future research, this study aims to contribute to code development and industry uptake of structural FRC applications.

Hybrid reinforced technology (combination of steel reinforcing bars and fibers) can be considered as a competitive alternative to the already existing solutions for the construction of column‐supported flat slabs. Constructed hybrid‐reinforced buildings prove that hybrid solutions have sufficient bearing capacity to maintain structural integrity despite being exposed to high stress levels, thereby providing a beneficial solution in terms of toughness, ductility, and sustainability performance. However, the lack of design‐oriented recommendations based on the accepted limit state format for dealing with both serviceability and ultimate limit states slows down the wider implementation of this technology. Considering the above‐mentioned, this article presents a simplified design‐oriented method that covers the evaluation of the structural response of hybrid reinforced concrete column‐supported flat slabs in terms of flexural strength, cracking, and instantaneous deformations. Two hybrid reinforced alternatives for a given flat slab are studied by means of the proposed approach. Furthermore, a nonlinear finite element analysis is carried out in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the developed simplified method. Based on the achieved results, its suitable accuracy and precision can be pointed out. This outcome may motivate current practitioners to consider hybrid reinforced concrete solutions as a possible alternative during the design of residential and office buildings.

Mid-rise reinforced concrete buildings are projected to continue being the predominant typology for urban development. Thus, reducing the carbon footprint of such buildings is critical for achieving a sustainable built environment. Reducing the amount of concrete and steel in a building through structural and mix design optimization is identified as a primary resource efficiency strategy. This paper is among the first to present evidence of the decarbonization potential of these dematerialization strategies on a building level. The study combines structural design choices such as slab system design, steel reinforcement optimization and span width with materials-based strategies, such as low binder concrete and low-carbon binders. For each scenario, material quantities are calculated following design prescriptions by EN1992–1–1 while state-of-the art life cycle inventory data are adopted to calculate the carbon footprint. Results show that shifting towards more efficient structural systems (i.e., waffle slab system) could save up to 20% of the carbon footprint on the building level compared to more traditional systems, such as slab on beams and flat slabs. In addition, reducing the spans from 7.5 to 5 m can save up to 20% more. Finally, the use of low-clinker cement in low-binder concrete can save another 50% in terms of CO₂ impact per built-up area. Realistically, results of the case study concluded that implementing these three strategies could reduce the typical 232 kg CO₂e/m² value of the carbon footprint of structural elements of a mid-rise building up to only 58 kg CO₂e/m², i.e., a four-fold reduction.

Fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) is an attractive alternative to traditional steel bar-reinforced concrete structures, as evidenced by the constantly increasing market consumption of structural fibers for this purpose. In spite of significant research dedicated to FRC, less attention has been given to the effects of low temperatures on the mechanical properties of FRC, which can be critical for a variety of structural typologies and regions. With this in mind, an experimental program was carried out to assess the flexural behavior of macro-synthetic fiber-reinforced concrete (MSFRC) at different temperatures (from 20 °C to −30 °C) by means of three-point bending notched beam tests. The tested MSFRCs were produced by varying the content of polypropylene fibers (4 and 8 kg/m³). The results proved that the flexural strength capacity of all MSFRCs improved with decreasing temperature. Finite element analyses were then used to calibrate constitutive models following fib Model Code 2010 guidelines and to formulate empirical adjustments for taking into account the effects of low temperatures. The outcomes of this research are the basis for future experimental and numerical efforts meant to improve the design of MSFRCs subjected to low temperatures during service conditions.

Steel fiber‐reinforced concrete (SFRC) has proven to be a suitable structural material for constructing elevated flat slabs, and several existing office and residential buildings, in which SFRC was used for these components, highlighted the positive outcomes from both technical and sustainability perspectives. However, research on the influence of fiber orientation on the flexural performance of SFRC slabs is relatively scarce despite the fact that a number of studies revealed that the use of constitutive models derived from three‐point bending tests on notched beams leads to overestimations of the bearing capacity of statically indeterminate slabs. In this context, this study aims at presenting an extensive experimental program that consisted of testing three SFRC slabs (3.0 × 3.0 × 0.1 m³) subjected to point load under a statically indeterminate test configuration. The testing procedure was followed by the extraction of 88 cores in order to analyze both fiber distribution and orientation by means of a non‐destructive inductive method. The results indicate that lower orientation numbers were observed in cylinders drilled from the slabs in comparison with those observed in the 150 × 150 × 600 mm³ notched reference beams tested to characterize the pre‐ and post‐cracking flexural performance of the SFRC produced. Based on these results, a straightforward design‐oriented approach to compute an orientation factor was proposed and considered to develop the constitutive law used to simulate the structural response of SFRC slabs by means of nonlinear finite element model. The numerical simulation results showed a good agreement with the experimental response, this evidencing that the orientation factor may permit to account for the differences caused by geometric and statistical scale‐induced factors between both the beams used for the SFRC flexural properties characterization and slabs produced with the same SFRC.