Tensile Behavior of High-Strength, Strain-Hardening Cement-Based Composites (HS-SHCC) Reinforced with Continuous Textile Made of Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight Polyethylene

Abstract

The paper at hand presents an investigation of the tensile behavior of high-strength, strain-hardening cement-based composites (HS-SHCC), reinforced with a single layer of continuous, two-dimensional textile made of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). Uniaxial tension tests were performed on the bare UHMWPE textiles, on plain HS-SHCC, and on the hybrid fiber-reinforced composites. The bond properties between the textile yarns and the surrounding composite were investigated in single-yarn pullout experiments. In order to assess the influence of bond strength between the yarn and HS-SHCC on the tensile behavior of the composites with hybrid fiber reinforcement, the textile samples were analyzed both with, and without, an additional coating of epoxy resin and sand. Compared to the composites reinforced with carbon yarns in previous studies by the authors, the high elongation capacity of the UHMWPE textile established the higher strain capacity of the hybrid fiber-reinforced composites, and showed superior energy absorption capacity up to failure. The UHMWPE textile limited the average crack width in comparison with that of plain HS-SHCC, but led to slightly larger crack widths when compared to equivalent composites reinforced with carbon textile, the reason for which was traced back to the lower Young’s modulus and the higher elongation capacity of the polymer textile.

Probabilistic Finite Element Modeling of Textile Reinforced SHCC Subjected to Uniaxial Tension

“…The constitutive nature and geometry of the modeled composite specimens allowed performing 2D simulations to limit the computational effort. The geometry and dimensions of the modeled composite specimens are presented in Figure 1a according to [13,14]. The modeled region of interest corresponds to the gauge portion, having a width of 60 mm and length of 150 mm; see Figure 1b.…”

“…In this context, the combination of SHCC with textile reinforcement can effectively mitigate the disadvantages of each composite in particular and ensure superior mechanical features both under quasi-static [13,14] and impact loads [15,16]. However, aside from the mechanical features, the sustainability factors, especially the economical and the ecological ones, are essential with regard to the real-scale applicability of such materials.…”

“…The model and the numerical study presented in this paper complement a series of experimental investigations aimed at clarifying the influence of the constituents' properties and their interaction on the mechanical behavior and strengthening performance of SHCC with textile reinforcement [13,14]. Given that the primary focus was laid on the pre-peak tensile properties of such composites, the numerical material model of SHCC implied a smeared crack formulation of both the strain-hardening and localization phases.…”

“…The main goal of the probabilistic formulation was a realistic representation of the successive and spatially distributed multiple cracking in SHCC, depending on the inherent material variability in terms of flaw size distribution [31,32] and fiber orientation and distribution [33,34]. Moreover, the interaction with the continuous reinforcement was another important aspect analyzed with regard to the resulting extent of multiple cracking and crack width [13,14]. Following the multi-scale concept [29,35], the constitutive law of SHCC reflected the single-crack opening behavior.…”

“…The influence of stiffness and elongation capacity of the continuous reinforcement, as well as of the bond strength between the continuous reinforcement and the SHCC, were analyzed in a parameter study. Besides the macroscopic tensile stress-strain relationships of the plain SHCC and of the hybrid fiber-reinforced composites, the multiple cracking pattern and the resulting crack width along the entire deformation range were analyzed and compared to the reference experimental results presented in [13,14].…”