• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.207-215
• /
• 2019

Application of nanotechnology can be used to tailor made cementitious composites owing to small dimension and physical behaviour of resulting hydration products. Because of high aspect ratio and extremely high strength, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are perfect reinforcing materials. Hence, there is a great prospect to use CNTs in developing new generation cementitious materials. In the present paper, a parametric study has been conducted on cementitious composites reinforced by two types of multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) designated as Type I CNT (10-20 nm outer dia.) and Type II CNT (30-50 nm outer dia.) with various concentrations ranging from 0.1% to 0.5% by weight of cement. To evaluate important properties such as flexural strength, strain to failure, elastic modulus and modulus of toughness of the CNT admixed specimens at different curing periods, flexural bending tests were performed. Results show that composites with Type II CNTs gave more strength as compared to Type I CNTs. The highest increase in strength (flexural and compressive) is of the order of 22% and 33%, respectively, compared to control samples. Modulus of toughness at 28 days showed highest improvement of 265% for Type II 0.3% CNT composites. It is obvious that an optimum percentage of CNT could exists for composites to achieve suitable reinforcement behaviour and desired strength properties. Based on the parametric study, a tentative optimum CNT concentration (0.3% by weight of cement) has been proposed. Scanning electron microscope image shows perfect crack bridging mechanism; several of the CNTs were shown to act as crack arrestors across fine cracks along with some CNTs breakage.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.275-283
• /
• 2020

Reinforced concrete (RC) does not provide sufficient resistance against impacts and blast loads, and the brittle structure of RC fails to protect against fractures due to the lack of shock absorption. Investigations on improving its resistance against explosion and impact have been actively conducted on high-performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composites (HPFRCCs), such as fiber-reinforced concrete and ultra-high-performance concrete. For these HPFRCCs, however, tensile strength and toughness are still significantly lower compared to compressive strength due to their limited fiber volume fraction. Therefore, in this study, the tensile behavior of slurry-infiltrated fiber-reinforced cementitious composites (SIFRCCs), which can accommodate a large number of steel fibers, was analyzed under static and dynamic loading to improve the shortcomings of RC and to enhance its explosion and impact resistance. The fiber volume fractions of SIFRCCs were set to 4%, 5%, and 6%, and three strain rate levels (maximum strain rate: 250 s^-1) were applied. As a result, the tensile strength exceeded 15 MPa under static load, and the dynamic tensile strength reached a maximum of 40 MPa. In addition, tensile characteristics, such as tensile strength, deformation capacity, and energy absorption capacity, were improved as the fiber volume fraction and strain rate increased.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.261-271
• /
• 2018

Fiber reinforced cementitious composites (FRCC) materials that exhibit strain-hardening and multiple cracking properties under tension were recently developed as innovative building materials for construction. This study aims at exploring the use of FRCC on the seismic performance of coupling beams with conventional reinforcement. Experimental tests were conducted on seven FRCC precast coupling beams with small span-to-depth ratios and one ordinary concrete coupling beam for comparison. The crack and failure modes of the specimens under the low cycle reversed loading were observed, and the hysteretic characteristics, deformation capacity, energy dissipation capacity and stiffness degradation were also investigated. The results show that the FRCC coupling beams have good ductility and energy dissipation capacities compared with the ordinary concrete coupling beam. As the confinement stirrups and span-to-depth ratio increase, the deformation capacity and energy dissipation capacity of coupling beams can be improved significantly. Finally, based on the experimental analysis and shear mechanism, a formula for the shear capacity of the coupling beams with small span-to-depth ratios was also presented, and the calculated results agreed well with the experimental results.

• Advances in concrete construction
• /
• v.12 no.6
• /
• pp.451-459
• /
• 2021

The mechanical behaviors and chloride resistance performance of fiber reinforced cementitious composites (FRCC) with hybrid polyethylene (PE) and steel fiber (in total 2% by volume) were investigated. Based on micro-mechanics and fracture mechanics, the reason why the tensile strain capacity of FRCC changed obviously was obtained. Besides, the effects of the total surface area of fiber in FRCC on compressive strength and chloride content were clarified. It is found that the improvement of the tensile strain capacity of FRCC with hybrid fiber is attributed to the growth of strain-hardening performance index (the ratio of complementary energy to crack tip toughness). As the total surface area of fiber related with the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between fiber and matrix increases, compressive strength decreases obviously. Since the total surface area of fiber is small, the chloride resistance performance of FRCC with hybrid PE and steel fiber is better than that of FRCC containing only PE fiber.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.29 no.5
• /
• pp.347-360
• /
• 2022

Fiber-reinforced cementitious composites (FRCC) have emerged as a response to the calls for strong, ductile and sustainable concrete mixes. FRCC has shown outstanding mechanical properties and ductility where special fibres are used in the mixes to give it the strength and the ability to exhibit strain hardening. With the possibility of designing the FRCC mixes to include sustainable constituents and by-products materials such as fly ash, FRCC started to emerge as a green alternative as well. To be able to design mixes that achieve these conflicting properties in concrete, there is a need to understand the composition effect on FRCC and optimize these compositions. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the influence of FRCC compositions on the properties of fresh and hardened of FRCC and then to optimize these mix compositions using factorial design approach. Three factors, water-to-binder ratio (w/b), mineral admixtures (total of fly ash and metakaolin by cement content (MAR)), and metakaolin content (MK), were investigated to determine their effects on the properties of fresh and hardened FRCC. The results show the importance of combining both FA and MK in obtaining a satisfactory fresh and mechanical properties of FRCC. Models were suggested to elucidate the role of the studied factors and a method for optimization was proposed.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.29-43
• /
• 2017

This study investigates the blast resistance of fiber-reinforced cementitious composite (FRCC) panels, with fiber volume fractions of 2%, subjected to contact explosions using an emulsion explosive. A number of FRCC panels with five different fiber mixtures (i.e., micro polyvinyl alcohol fiber, micro polyethylene fiber, macro hooked-end steel fiber, micro polyvinyl alcohol fiber with macro hooked-end steel fiber, and micro polyethylene fiber with macro hooked-end steel fiber) were fabricated and tested. In addition, the blast resistance of plain panels (i.e., non-fiber-reinforced high strength concrete, and non-fiber-reinforced cementitious composites) were examined for comparison with those of the FRCC panels. The resistance of the panels to spall failure improved with the addition of micro synthetic fibers and/or macro hooked-end steel fibers as compared to those of the plain panels. The fracture energy of the FRCC panels was significantly higher than that of the plain panels, which reduced the local damage experienced by the FRCCs. The cracks on the back side of the micro synthetic fiber-reinforced panel due to contact explosions were greatly controlled compared to the macro hooked-end steel fiber-reinforced panel. However, the blast resistance of the macro hooked-end steel fiber-reinforced panel was improved by hybrid with micro synthetic fibers.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.9 no.3
• /
• pp.171-178
• /
• 2012

This paper presents numerical studies of stiff fiber pullout behaviors of fiber reinforced cementitious composites based on a progressive damage model. The ongoing debonding process is simulated. Interfacial stress distribution for different load levels is analyzed. A parametric study, including bond strength and the homogeneity index on the pullout behaviors is carried out. The numerical results indicate that the bond stress decreases gradually from loaded end to embedded end along fiber-cement interface. The debonding initially starts from loaded end and propagates to embedded end as load increasing. The embedded length and bond strength affect the load-loaded end displacement curves significantly. The numerical results have a general agreement with the experimental investigation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
• /
• 2022.11a
• /
• pp.213-214
• /
• 2022

The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze the effect of the length and volume fraction of smooth steel fiber on the electrical conductivity and shielding effectiveness of cementitious composites. As the length and volume fraction of the fiber increase, the movement of electrons becomes active and the formation of a conductive path becomes advantageous, thereby increasing electrical conductivity. Accordingly, the electrical conductivity and the shielding effectiveness showed a very close relationship. Thereafter, it is judged that research is needed to increase the shielding effect.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
• /
• 2023.05a
• /
• pp.183-184
• /
• 2023

The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze the effect of type and volume fraction of fiber on the electrical conductivity and shielding effectiveness of cementitious composites. The large specific surface area of amorphous metallic fiber, as well as the high number of fibers per unit weight, provided an advantage in the formation of conductive path. As the result, the electrical conductivity of amorphous metallic fiber was evaluated to be higher, and the shielding effectiveness was also higher. However, the shielding effectiveness according to electrical conductivity was confirmed to have a threshold point, and further research is needed to improve it.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.107-115
• /
• 2022

With the improvements in computer technologies, utilization of image processing techniques has increased in many areas (such as medicine, defence industry, other industries etc.) Many different image processing techniques are used for surface analysis, detection of manufacturing defects, and determination of physical and mechanical characteristics of composite materials. In this study, cementitious composites were obtained by addition of Grounded Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBFS), Styrene Butadiene polymer (SBR), and Grounded Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag and Styrene Butadiene polymer together (GGBFS+SBR). Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) beads were added to these cementitious composites in different ratios (20%, 40% and 60%). The mechanical and physical characteristics of the composites were determined, and homogeneity indexes of the composites were determined by image processing techniques to determine EPS distribution forms in them. Physical and mechanical characteristics of the produced samples were obtained by applying consistency, density, water absorption, compressive strength (7 and 28 days), flexural strength (7 and 28 days) and tensile splitting strength (7 and 28 days) tests on them. Also, visual examination by using digital microscope, and image analysis by using image processing techniques with open source coded ImageJ program were performed. As a result of the study, it is determined that GGBFS and SBR addition strengthens the adhesion sites formed as it increases the adhesion power of the mixture and helps to get rid of the segregation problem caused by EPS. As a result of the image processing analysis it is demonstrated that GGBFS and SBR addition has positive contribution on homogeneity index.