Fatigue life and cracking characterization of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) under flexural cyclic load

This paper presents a study on cracking characterization of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) under flexural cyclic load using digital image correlation (DIC) technique. Five stress levels, namely 0.65, 0.75, 0.8, 0.85 and 0.9 of the flexural strength, were applied. Strain map at the side surface was obtained by DIC and used to drive...

Expansion and degradation of cement paste in sodium sulfate solutions

External sulfate attack is a progressive degradation process that may cause expansion, cracking, loss of binder cohesion and increased permeability in cementitious materials. Crystallization pressure theory has often been referred to as the most likely mechanism. However, thus far the stress causing the expansion has not been quantified. In...

A novel capsule-based selfrecovery system with a chloride ion trigger

Steel is prone to corrosion induced by chloride ions, which is a serious threat to reinforced concrete structures, especially in marine environments. In this work, we report a novel capsule-based selfrecovery system that utilizes chloride ions as a trigger. These capsules, which are functionalized via a smart response to chloride ions, are...