Abstract: To study acoustic emission evolution characteristics of steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) with different steel fiber volume fractions under splitting tensile loads, acoustic emission (AE) was employed to conduct splitting tensile tests on SFRC with steel fiber volume fractions of 0%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2%. AE ring-down counts, RA-AF (rise angle-average frequency), and b-values were used to investigate SFRC acoustic emission evolution characteristics under different steel fiber volume fractions. Results showed that SFRC splitting tensile failure processes could be divided into three stages: crack compaction and closure, stable propagation, and damages. Steel fiber addition significantly improved concrete crack resistance and stability, making crack development processes more uniform and gradual; RA and AF values could be used to analyze SFRC splitting failure modes, with the increasve of steel fiber content, the tensile crack proportions decreased while shear crack proportions increased gradually, and SFRC splitting tensile failure remained predominantly tensile with coexisting shear cracks; with the increase of steel fiber volume fractions, AE signals became notably active during early and mid-loading stages with higher b-values, while b-values dropped sharply during late loading, indicating impending splitting failure.