Ultra-thin Strain Hardening Cementitious Composite (SHCC) layer in reinforced concrete cover zone for crack width control

In the current study, experiments and numerical simulations were carried out to investigate the cracking behavior of reinforced concrete beams consisting of a very thin layer (i.e., 1 cm in thickness) of SHCC in the concrete cover, tension zone. A novel type of SHCC/concrete interface that features a weakened chemical adhesion but an enhanced...

Microstructural characterization of crack-healing enabled by bacteria-embedded polylactic acid (PLA) capsules

The current study investigates short-term and long-term crack-healing behaviour of mortars embedded with bacteria-based poly-lactic acid (PLA) capsules under both ideal and realistic environmental conditions. Two sets of specimens were prepared and subjected to different healing regimes, with the first set kept in a mist room for varying...

Strain Hardening Cementitious Composite in Reinforced Concrete Cover Zone for Crack Width Control

In the current study, experiments were carried out to investigate the cracking behaviour of reinforced concrete beams consisting of 1-cm-thick layer of Strain Hardening Cementitious Composite (SHCC) in the concrete cover zone. The hybrid SHCC/concrete beams with different types of interfaces were tested and compared with control reinforced...

Experimental and numerical investigation on the role of interface for crack-width control of hybrid SHCC concrete beams

Hybrid application of conventional concrete and Strain Hardening Cementitious Composite (SHCC) is recently shown to be promising for crack width control. In this paper, a combined experimental and numerical study is performed to validate the concept and to study the effect of interface treatment on crack width control. The interface is varied...

Consistency of Mechanical Properties of 3D Printed Strain Hardening Cementitious Composites Within One Printing System

Previous research has shown that the material properties of a three-dimensional printed strain hardening cementitious composite (3DP-SHCC) can significantly vary, depending on the printing system with which it is produced. However, limited research has been performed on the reproducibility of hardened mechanical properties under identical...

Effects of bacteria-embedded polylactic acid (PLA) capsules on fracture properties of strain hardening cementitious composite (SHCC)

Strain hardening cementitious composite (SHCC) is a special class of ultra-ductile material which has autogenous self-healing capability due to its intrinsic tight crack widths. To further improve its healing ability, healing agent (HA) can be incorporated in SHCC, enabling it also the autonomous self-healing mechanism. In this study, the...

Quality Assessment of Printable Strain Hardening Cementitious Composites Manufactured in Two Different Printing Facilities

Over the past few years, several studies have shown the potential of three-dimensional concrete printing (3DCP) for applications in building and civil engineering. However, only a few studies have compared the properties of the fresh printing material and the quality of the printed elements from different printing facilities. Variations in the...

Strain-Hardening Cementitious Composite (SHCC) For Durable Concrete Repair

Infrastructure is ageing and we are facing a serious challenge on how to deal with it. One possible solution is to repair it, but the life of current concrete repairs, including all types of repairs and application of different materials, is not satisfactory and there is an urgent need for improvement. Understanding the damage development in a...

On the Potential of Lattice Type Model for Predicting Shear Capacity of Reinforced Concrete and SHCC Structures

Different analytical models exist to predict the shear strength of reinforced concrete members. Generally, each of these shear strength models consists of a formulation based on certain underlying theory and fitted model coefficients. The model fitting parameters are usually established from the comparison with test data. Hence, the predictive...

Cracking of SHCC due to reinforcement corrosion

Reinforcement corrosion is the most important deterioration mechanism affecting reinforced concrete infrastructures. After corrosion starts, expansive pressures are exerted onto the surrounding concrete, causing cracking and spalling of the cover concrete. The amount of cover cracking can possibly be reduced by using strain hardening...