Title:
Engineered Cementitious Composites for Improved Crack-Width Control of FRC Beams – A Review
Author(s):
Moussa Leblouba, Salah Al-Toubat, and Mohamed Maalej
Publication:
Symposium Paper
Volume:
319
Issue:
Appears on pages(s):
7.1-7.14
Keywords:
Engineered Cementitious Composites; Fiber Reinforced Concrete; Crack width
DOI:
10.14359/51700856
Date:
6/1/2017
Abstract:
Although, concrete has proven its performance in resisting compressive loads as a construction material, its
increased brittleness and tendency to crack under small tensile forces and the lack of ductility of un-reinforced
concrete elements has led to the development of new cementitious materials that address these limitations. Even
though the introduction of short fibers in concrete (leading to Fiber Reinforced Concrete, FRC) has somewhat
addressed the performance deficiency of this material under tensile forces, the FRC material itself was shown to
soften in tension, leading to the continuous opening of cracks once formed. In response, high performance fiber
reinforced cementitious composites such as Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECCs) have been introduced in
recent years as an alternative to ordinary concrete and FRC in applications requiring crack width control, high
ductility, high energy absorption, and damage tolerance. The use of ECC (instead of FRC) in these applications
leads to the development of cracks that tend to spread all over the loaded element due to its strain-hardening
property under sustained tensile stresses, a feature that is seen mostly in ductile metals. This paper presents a review
of the effectiveness of ECC in controlling the crack width and crack growth in various reinforced concrete elements.