Simulation of compression test of a stainless steel fiber reinforced refractory concrete column in Abaqus

Refractory concrete materials are widely used in high-temperature structural and industrial applications due to their excellent thermal stability, fire resistance, and durability under extreme environmental conditions. However, conventional refractory concrete exhibits inherent brittleness and limited tensile strength, which can lead to premature cracking and sudden failure under mechanical loading. To overcome these limitations, stainless steel fiber reinforced refractory concrete (SSFRRC) has been developed as an advanced composite material that combines refractory concrete matrices with randomly distributed stainless steel fibers, significantly enhancing strength, toughness, and post-cracking performance

Columns made of SSFRRC are increasingly employed in industrial furnaces, chimneys, and fire-resistant structural components where both compressive load-bearing capacity and thermal resistance are critical. Understanding the compression behavior of SSFRRC columns is essential for ensuring structural safety and optimizing design. Experimental compression tests provide valuable insights into failure modes and material behavior; however, they are often constrained by high material costs, complex specimen preparation, and limitations in parametric variation. As a result, numerical simulation of compression tests has become an effective and economical approach to complement experimental studies

Numerical simulation enables detailed investigation of the nonlinear mechanical response of SSFRRC columns under compressive loading, including crack initiation, stress redistribution, fiber–matrix interaction, and damage evolution. By incorporating appropriate constitutive models for refractory concrete and stainless steel fibers, finite element (FE) analysis can accurately reproduce load–load-displacement behavior, strength development, and failure mechanisms observed in laboratory tests. Moreover, simulation allows systematic evaluation of key parameters such as fiber volume fraction, fiber aspect ratio, concrete strength, and column slenderness, which are difficult to isolate experimentally

In this study, a numerical model is developed to simulate the compression test of a stainless steel fiber-reinforced refractory concrete column. The model accounts for material nonlinearity, damage, and plasticity of the refractory concrete, and the reinforcing effect of stainless steel fibers. The Concrete Damaged Plasticity is selected to represent the proper behavior of the column under compression test. Both dynamic and static steps are used. You can check the results below