Damage Tolerance of Reinforced Concrete (RC) Beams with a Layer of PE Fiber Reinforced Strain-Hardening Cement Composite (PE-SHCC)

This work evaluated the applicability of polyethylene (PE) fiber reinforced strain-hardening cement composite (PE-SHCC) layer at the bottom of reinforced concrete (RC) beams to improve the flexural performance and cracking behavior. PE-SHCC material with specific compressive strength of 70MPa was reinforced with 1.5% PE fibers at the volume fraction. Four RC beams with cross-section of 130 x 170mm and length of 1,460mm were made and tested under four-point monotonic loading. Three beams were layered with PE-SHCC material and one whole RC beam was a control specimen for comparison. Principal yariable is the thickness of PE-SHCC layer; 20, 40 and 60mm that are equivalent to 11, 23 and 35% of beam's depth. Experimental results indicated that the addition of PE-SHCC layer enhanced the crack-damage mitigation of RC beams and improve the structural behavior, such as strength and ductility, of RC beams.