Numerical and Parametric Studies on Flexural Behaviour of ECC Beams by Considering the Effect of Slag and Micro-PVA Fibre

Abstract

Engineered cementitious composite (ECC) refers to the group of cementitious mixtures possessing the strain-hardening and crack control abilities. In this research, the mechanical performance of ECC beams will be investigated with respect to the effect of aggregate size and amount, by employing nonlinear finite element method. The proposed models would be justified by means of the experimental results of the ECC beams functioning under monotonic loads. Followed by this, nonlinear parametric study was made as per the arithmetical analysis method which investigates the impact of ECC aggregate content (AC) and ECC compressive strength (fECC) parameters upon the flexural stress and flexural deflection of ECC beams. The comparative analysis showed that an increase in the total size and quantity, there was observed no particular change in flexural strength, while the ductility of ECC had a negative influence. Besides, the ECC beams were observed to cause significant improvements in flexural stress, strain, and midspan deflection when measured against the reference beam (microsilica MSC), i.e. the average improvement percentages were 77.51%, 800% and 863.5%, respectively. These results are quite similar to that of the experimental results, which provides that the finite element model is in accordance with the desirable flexural behaviour of the ECC beams. The provided models may also be employed to obtain a precise estimate of the flexural behaviour of ECC beams.