• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.565-582
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• 2023

The present research reports the application of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) as an alternative to conventional concrete to improve the seismic behavior of short columns. Experimental and finite element investigation was conducted by testing five reinforced engineered cementitious composite (RECC) concrete columns (half-scale specimens) and one control reinforced concrete (RC) specimen for different shear-span and transverse reinforcement ratios under cyclic lateral loads. RECC specimens with higher shear-span and transverse reinforcement ratios demonstrated a significant effect on the column lateral load behavior by improving ductility (>5), energy dissipation capacity (1.2 to 4.1 times RC specimen), gradual strength degradation (ultimate drift >3.4%), and altering the failure mode. The self-confinement effect of ECC fibers maintained the integrity in the post-peak region and reserved the transmission of stress through fibers without noticeable degradation in strength. Finite element modeling of RECC specimens under monotonic incremental loads was carried out by adopting simplified constitutive material models. It was apprehended that the model simulated the global response (strength and stiffness) and damage crack patterns reasonably well.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.135-144
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• 2012

This article reviews the tailoring of engineered cementitious composites (ECC), a type of high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composites with a theoretical design basis, for special attributes or functions. The design basis, a set of analytic tools built on micromechanics, provides guidelines for tailoring of fiber, matrix, and fiber/matrix interfaces to attain tensile ductility in ECC. If conditions for controlled multiple cracking are disturbed by the need to introduce ingredients to attain a special attribute or function, micromechanics then serve as a systematic and rational means to efficiently recover composite tensile ductility. Three examples of ECCs with attributes of lightweight, high early strength, and self-healing functions, are used to illustrate these tailoring concepts. The fundamental approach, however, is broadly applicable to a wide variety of ECCs designed for targeted fresh and/or hardened characteristics required for specific applications.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.37-45
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• 2021

This paper is a basic study to evaluate the possibility of earthquake-resistant reinforcement by reinforcing engineered cementitious composite in masonry members. In order to examine the performance according to the fiber mixing rate of the engineered cementitious composite, a test specimen was prepared according to the formulation design, and flow ability, compressive strength, flexural strength, length change rate, and direct tensile strain were measured. In addition, non-reinforced masonry members, masonry members reinforced with engineered cementitious composite, and masonry members in which glass fibers and wire mesh were separately reinforced with engineered cementitious composites were manufactured, and flexural strength and maximum displacement were measured. All specimens reinforced with engineered cementitious composite showed more than 16 times the effect of maximal strength compared to that of no reinforcement, and as a result of examining the crack shape, the energy dissipation ability was excellent, confirming the possibility of seismic reinforcement.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.339-355
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• 2022

The high cost of ultra-high-performance engineered cementitious composite (UHP-ECC) is currently a crucial issue, especially in terms of the polyethylene (PE) fibers use. In this paper, cheap calcium carbonate whiskers (CW) were evaluated on the feasibility of hybrid with PE fibers. Diverse combinations of PE fibers and CW were employed to investigate the multi-scale enhancement on the UHP-ECC performance. A probabilistic-based UHP-ECC tensile strain reliability analysis approach was utilized, which was in general agreement with the experimental results. Furthermore, a multi-dimensional integrated representation was conducted for the comprehensive assessment of UHP-ECC. Results illustrated that CW improved the compressive strength and energy dissipation capacity of UHP-ECC owing to the microscopic strengthening mechanism. CW and PE fiber further promoted the saturated cracking of composite by multi-scale crack arresting effect. In particular, PE1.75-CW0.5 specimen possessed the best overall performance. The ultimate cracking width of PE1.75-CW0.5 group had 98 ㎛, which was 46.18% lower compared to PE2-CW0 group, the 28d compressive strength were slightly improved, the tensile strain capacity was comparable to that of PE2-CW0 group. The results above demonstrated that combinations of PE fiber and CW could significantly enhance the comprehensive performance of UHP-ECC, which was beneficial for large-scale engineering applications.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.5
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• pp.575-589
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• 2022

In order to enhance the greenness in the strain-hardening composites and to reduce the high cost of typical polyvinyl alcohol fiber reinforced engineered cementitious composite (PVA-ECC), an affordable strain-hardening composite with green binder content has been proposed. For optimizing the strain-hardening behavior of cementitious composites, this paper investigates the effects of polypropylene fibers on the first cracking strength, fracture properties, and micromechanical parameters of cementitious composites. For this purpose, digital image correlation (DIC) technique was utilized to monitor crack propagation. In addition, to have an in-depth understanding of fiber/matrix interaction, scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis was used. To understand the effect of fibers on the strain hardening behavior of cementitious composites, ten mixes were designed with the variables of fiber length and volume. To investigate the micromechanical parameters from fracture tests on notched beam specimens, a novel technique has been suggested. In this regard, mechanical and fracture tests were carried out, and the results have been discussed utilizing both fracture and micromechanical concepts. This study shows that the fiber length and volume have optimal values; therefore, using fibers without considering the optimal values has negative effects on the strain-hardening behavior of cementitious composites.

• Composites Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.21-26
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• 2007

This paper summarizes the design procedure and constructibility of an ECC (Engineered Cementitious Composite), which is a synthetic fiber-reinforced composite produced with the Portland cement-based mortar matrix. This study employs a stepwise method to develop useful ECC in construction field, which possesses different fluid properties to facilitate diverse types of processing (i.e., self-consolidating or spray processing). To control the rheological properties of the composite, the aggregates and reinforcing fibers were initially selected based on micromechanical analysis and steady-state cracking theory. The stability and consequent viscosity of the suspensions were then mediated by optimizing the dosage of the chemical and mineral admixtures. The rheological properties altered through this approach were revealed to be effective in obtaining ECC-hardened properties, represented by pseudo strain-hardening behavior in uniaxial tension, allowing the readily achievement of the desired function of the fresh ECC.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2009.05c
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• pp.75-78
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• 2009

It was investigated fire resistance properties and mechanical properties of high strength concrete column using ECC(Engineered Cementitious Composites) permanent form by KS F 2257 Methods of fire resistance test for elements of building construction and compression test for application of precast concrete column method of high rise building in this study. As a test result, it was appeared that ECC permanent form is available as fire resistance method of high strength concrete and new precast concrete construction method for facilitating construction of high rise building.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.18 no.3E
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• pp.207-211
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• 2006

This paper presents an experimental study on the repair performance of sprayed engineered cementitious composites(ECC) serving as a repair material. Sprayable ECC, which exhibit tensile strain-hardening behavior in the hardened state and maintain sprayable properties in the fresh state, have been developed by using a parallel control of micromechanical design and rheological process design. The effectiveness of sprayable ECC in providing durable repaired structures was assessed by spraying the ECC and testing them for the assessment. The experimental results revealed that, when sprayed ECC were used as a repair material, both load carrying capacity and ductility represented by the deformation capacity at peak load of the repaired flexural beams were obviously increased compared to those of commercial prepackaged mortar(PM) repaired beams. The significant enhancement in the energy absorption capacity and tight crack width control of the ECC repair system treated with wet-mix spraying process suggests that sprayed ECC can be effective in extending the service life of rehabilitated infrastructures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.269-283
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• 2024

When a reinforced concrete (RC) structure is exposed to a corrosive environment for an extended period of time, the material qualities deteriorate, resulting in a loss in seismic performance. Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) have been used to reinforce the corroded RC structure, which can achieve reinforcement effectiveness for a small change in cross-section size. In this work, finite element models of unjacketed RC pier and ECC jacketed pier were established and verified by experimental tests, with the buckling effect of longitudinal reinforcement considered. Compared with the unjacketed pier, the displacement of the pier top of the ECC jacketed pier was reduced by about 9.52% under earthquake action. In the case of moderate and major earthquakes, the probability of exceedance of ECC jacketed pier is significantly reduced. For the case of rare earthquake loading, with the ECC jacket, the e of the pier experiencing serious damage and complete damage states is reduced by 10.29% and 29.78%, respectively.

• Composites Research
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.50-57
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• 2010

It is important to detect fibers in the sectional image of fiber reinforced cementitious composites (FRCC), since the fiber distribution is a crucial factor to predict or evaluate the mechanical performance of FRCC. In this paper, we investigated the fluorescence characteristics of Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) fibers, Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) fibers, Polyethylene (PE) fibers, and Polypropylene (PP) fibers used in Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC), which is a special kind of FRCC that incorporates synthetic fibers and exhibits extremely ductile behavior in uniaxial tension, to detect each fiber according to its type. Furthermore, optimum excitation and emission wavelengths were proposed on the basis of maximum difference of Relative Fluorescence Intensity (RFI) between two types of fibers used in the hybrid ECC. Optimum threshold values to discriminate two types of fibers using statistical tools were also proposed. Finally, images of four types of fibers obtained using a fluorescence microscope are compared.