Experimental study of tensile properties of strain-hardening cementitious composites (SHCCs) reinforced with innovative twisted basalt fibers

Engineered cementitious composites (ECCs) are considered high-performance fiber-reinforced materials owing to their excellent crack-width control capacity and high ductility, but the high cost of reinforcing fibers hinders their extensive application. Basalt fibers, which have excellent mechanical properties and low cost, are promising substitute materials; however, their low shear strength limits the development of ECCs with basalt fibers. In this study, resin modification was adopted to fabricate modified basalt fibers. Fiber shear tests demonstrated that these fibers exhibited higher shear strength than raw basalt fibers. Furthermore, inclined fiber pullout tests demonstrated that, compared to raw basalt fibers, the modified fibers exhibited a lower fiber rupture percentage at various inclinations. Raw basalt fiber composites showed strain-softening behavior with limited strain capacities, while modified fiber composites showed strain-hardening behavior with a strain capacity of up to 0.84 %, a tensile strength of 7.5 MPa, and a crack width of less than 60 mu m.