Development of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) using artificial fine aggregates. (25th October 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xu, Ling-Yu; Huang, Bo-Tao; Dai, Jian-Guo
• Is Part Of: Construction & building materials. Volume 305(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-10-25
• Subjects: Artificial aggregates -- Geopolymer aggregate -- Cement-bonded aggregate -- Engineered cementitious composites (ECC) -- Strain-hardening cementitious composites (SHCC) -- Tensile performance; Building materials -- Periodicals; 624.18
• DOI: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.124742
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0950-0618

Abstract

Highlights: ECC using artificial fine aggregates were developed for the first time. The developed high-strength ECC incorporating geopolymer and cement-bonded artificial fine aggregates achieved a compressive strength of 122.4 and 120.9 MPa, respectively. Among the existing ambient-cured high-strength ECC, the developed geopolymer aggregate ECC recorded the highest tensile strain capacity (9.0%). For high-strength ECC, the use of geopolymer artificial fine aggregate resulted in more saturated multiple cracking. Abstract: In this study, Engineered/Strain-Hardening Cementitious Composites (ECC/SHCC) using artificial fine aggregates [i.e., geopolymer aggregates (GPA) and cement-bonded aggregates (CBA)] were developed for the first time. The developed GPA-ECC and CBA-ECC showed a compressive strength over 120 MPa, and the GPA-ECC recorded the highest tensile strain capacity (9.0%) among the existing ambient-cured high-strength ECC in literature. Compared with fine silica sand ECC (FSS-ECC) as a control mix, GPA-ECC and CBA-ECC showed lower compressive and tensile strength, owing to their lower aggregate strengths. From digital image correlation analysis, a more saturated multiple cracking behavior was observed for GPA-ECC as compared to CBA-ECC and FSS-ECC. In addition, the use of artificial aggregates had marginal effect on the crack width distribution of high-strength ECC. The findings in this study demonstrate the feasibility of using artificial fine aggregates in ECC production and provide a new avenue to improve ductility and sustainability for ECC materials.