Mechanical properties of engineered cementitious composites developed with silica fume

Engineered Cementitious Composites are generally the ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced composites, which have very good mechanical properties. Engineered Cementitious Composites are similar to normal conventional concrete with cement, fine sand, fly ash, but without coarse aggregate. Engineered Cementitious Composites have a high content of cement, which is causing this material to be far from the sustainability. The mechanical and durability properties of Engineered Cementitious Composites can be improved by the addition of fly ash. The properties of Engineered Cementitious Composites can be also improved by the partial replacement of cement by fly ash, up to 40%. In this study, an attempt is made to straighten the Engineered Cementitious Composites by the addition of silica fume, leaving the content of fly ash without changes. Eight different mix proportions are used in this investigation, which includes one conventional mix and mixes with the addition of 10% to 70% of silica fume with the distance of 10%. The addition of silica fume to Engineered Cementitious Composites is causing the remarkable improvement of the mechanical properties of these mixes.