• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.513-522
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• 2008

The fiber dispersion performance in fiber-reinforced cementitious composites is a crucial factor with respect to achieving desired mechanical performance. However, evaluation of the fiber dispersion performance in the composite PVA-ECC (Polyvinyl alcohol-Engineered Cementitious Composite) is extremely challenging because of the low contrast of PVA fibers with the cement-based matrix. In the present work, an enhanced fiber detection technique is developed and demonstrated. Using a fluorescence technique on the PVA-ECC, PVA fibers are observed as green dots in the cross-section of the composite. After capturing the fluorescence image with a Charged Couple Device (CCD) camera through a microscope. The fibers are more accurately detected by employing a series of process based on a categorization, watershed segmentation, and morphological reconstruction.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.67-75
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• 2008

An engineered cementitious composite produced with slag particles (Slag-ECC) had been developed based on micromechanical principle. Base grain ingredients were properly selected, and then the mixture proportion was optimized to be capable of achieving robust tensile ductility in the hardened state. The rheological design is performed in the present study by optimizing the amount of admixtures suitable for self-consolidating casting and shotcreting process in the fresh state. A special focus is placed on the rheological control which is directly applicable to the construction in field, using prepackaged product with all pulverized ingredients. To control the rheological properties of the composite, which possesses different fluid properties to facilitate two types of processing (i.e., self-consolidating and shotcreting processing), the viscosity change of the cement paste suspensions over time was initially investigated, and then the proper dosage of the admixtures in the cement paste was selected. The two types of mixture proportion were then optimized by self-consolidating & shotcreting tests. A series of self-consolidating and shotcreting tests demonstrated excellent self-consolidation property and sprayability of the Slag-ECC. The rheological properties altered through this approach were revealed to be effective in obtaining Slag-ECC hardened properties, represented by pseudo strain-hardening behavior in uniaxial tension, allowing the readily achievement of the desired function of the fresh Slag-ECC. These ductile composites with self-consolidating and shotcreting processing can be broadly utilized for a variety of applications, e.g., in strengthening seismic resistant structures with congested reinforcements, or in repairing deteriorated infrastructures by shotcreting process.