Structural Applications of Hybrid Fiber

Engineered Cementitious Composites -

A Review

M. Maalej

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering,

College of Engineering University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE

Abstract. This paper reviews some of the recent progress in the structural applica-
tions of hybrid fiber Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC) materials. A
summary of the design and characteristics of such materials is presented followed
by a review of recent applications of hybrid fiber ECC. The reviewed applications
include the use of hybrid fiber ECC for designing impact & blast resistant protec-
tive panels, strengthening of RC beams, and enhancing corrosion durability of RC
beams. The review demonstrates that hybrid fiber ECC can significantly enhance
the performance of structures incorporating these materials.

1 Introduction

In recent years, it has been demonstrated that Engineered Cementitious Compo-

sites (ECCs) can be designed to exhibit pronounced tensile strain-hardening by
adding to the cement-based matrix a relatively low volume (typically § 2%) of
short randomly-distributed fibers of specific type and property. The resulting ECC
composites are characterized by their high tensile strain capacity, fracture energy
and notch insensitivity, making them ideal materials for various structural applica-
tions, including impact- and blast-resistant structures. Under uniaxial tension, se-
quentially developed parallel cracks contribute to the inelastic strain at increasing
stress level. The ultimate tensile strength and strain capacity can be as high as 5
MPa and 4%, respectively (see Fig. 1). The latter is two orders of magnitude high-
er than that of normal or ordinary fiber reinforced concrete.
It has been demonstrated that, for a number of structural application, the use of
more than one type of fiber as reinforcement will result in a hybrid fiber composite
that is better able to meet the material performance requirements for the given ap-
plication. For instance, to use ECC in protective structures, the material is required
to possess sufficient strength to resist penetration, while at the same time it is re-
quired to absorb a large amount of energy, thereby minimizing fragmentation and
reducing the velocities of the fragments (i.e. need material of sufficiently high
strain capacity). For using ECC in corrosion-resistant structures, a low crack width
is required to reduce the ingress of aggressive substances reaching the steel

G.J. Parra-Montesinos, H.W. Reinhardt, and A.E. Naaman (Eds.): HPFRCC 6, pp. 197–204.
© RILEM 2012
198 M. Maalej

reinforcement, while at the same time a high strain capacity is also required to
prevent delamination and concrete cover spalling. Further, given that mono-fiber
ECCs containing high modulus fibers (e.g. steel and carbon fibers) normally exhi-
bit high ultimate strength, low crack width and low strain capacity, while those
containing low modulus fibers (e.g. polyvinyl alcohol and polyethylene fibers) ex-
hibit opposite behaviors, it becomes clear that a hybrid-fiber ECC with proper vo-
lume ratio of high and low modulus fibers can be designed to achieve an optimal
balance between ultimate strength, crack width and strain capacity, and therefore
better meet the functional requirement for these applications.

5 σ
For given values of c (crack size) and Vf1
4
σcu
Tensile Stress (MPa)

3 crit min
Vf = Vf1+Vf2 σfc
2

1 Multiple-cracking
0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08
Vf2 min
Vf2
Strain

Fig. 1. Uniaxial tensile stress-strain curves of Fig. 2. Critical fiber volume fraction
ECC from coupon specimen tests concept for hybrid fiber ECC

In sections to follow, the performance of hybrid fiber ECC in a number of struc-

tural applications is reviewed with the objective of assessing the potential of these
materials in providing better functionality, in particular, in applications involving
enhancing the impact- and blast-resistance of structures, improving the strength
and ductility of FRP-strengthened beams and enhancing the corrosion durability of
RC members.

2 The Critical Fiber Volume Fraction Concept

A micromechanical model for the design of hybrid fiber ECC was develop by
Ahmed et al. [1] on the basis of fracture mechanics and deformation mechanism
taking into account the effects of hybrid fibers. This micromechanical model for
hybrid-fiber ECC is an extension of an earlier model proposed by Li and Leung
[2] for mono-fiber composites.
The above model assumes that strain-hardening behavior could be achieved in a
hybrid-fiber composite when the ultimate bridging strength (σcu) imposed by the
fiber/matrix interaction exceeds the first crack strength (σfc) at which new matrix
cracks can propagate (multiple cracking). For a given initial size of matrix crack
(c) and a given volume fraction of one type of fiber (Vf1), the above condition (σcu
≥ σfc) leads to the estimation of a minimum volume fraction of the other type of
Structural Applications of Hybrid Fiber Engineered Cementitious Composites 199

fiber (Vf2min) necessary for the composite to exhibit strain-hardening behavior

(Fig. 2), and thus a critical fiber volume fraction concept for hybrid-fiber compo-
sites dependent on the matrix, fibers and interface properties.

3 Blast/Impact Resistant Panels

In view of the high ductility and fracture energy of ECC, Zhang et al. [3] proposed
the use of ECC materials for the construction of blast-resistant protective panels.
The performance of ECC in these applications can be evaluated experimentally
using drop weight impact tests to simulate the impact by large mass at relatively
low strain rate and low impact velocity. When a structure is impacted by a blast
wave or a large projectile at low impact velocity, the global response of the target
is likely to dominate where tensile and flexural stresses must be sustained at large
deformation without crack localization (unlike the case of impact by a small pro-
jectile at high velocity where the load application is spatially concentrated and the
local response effects dominate).
Zhang et al. [3] conducted a series of drop weight impact tests to evaluate the
damage and failure mode of hybrid-fiber ECC panels caused by large projectiles
or fragments. One of the specific aims of the experiment was to quantify the ex-
tent to which hybrid-fiber ECC improves the resistance of blast panels against im-
pact loading. For this purpose, drop weight tests were conducted on full-scale hy-
brid-fiber ECC blast/shelter panels (2 m x 1 m x 0.05~0.1 m) to study their
response and performance under impact loading. Conventional steel reinforced
concrete (RC) and steel fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) blast panels were also
tested to identify the advantages of using ECC in this application. The impact re-
sistance of blast panels of different materials was evaluated in terms of the extent
of damage, energy absorption capacity and residual resistance against multiple
impacts. The drop weight impact test results showed that the hybrid-fiber ECC
panels exhibit lesser damage, significantly-improved impact resistance against
multiple impacts and improved ductility and energy absorption capacity compared
to both RC and FRC counterparts. The response of the ECC panels to drop weight
impact was characterized as follows:
• Much smaller indent depth and crater size on the impact face. The indent depths
of the crater for all the panels under multiple impacts are summarized in Fig. 3.
Fig. 4 shows the damage on the impact face of the RC panel after the first three
impacts. Similar indentation depth as the 1st impact on RC panel was induced on
the ECC panels after ten impacts, as shown in Fig. 5.
• Much smaller exit crater on the distal face after perforation with the structure
remaining largely intact.
• Ductile failure process characterized by large deformation limit prior to serious
scabbing and total failure.
200 M. Maalej

• Large improvement in the cracking behavior with a larger volume of material

involved in energy absorption for better resistance.

Zhang et al. [3] have also adopted a Single Degree of Freedom (SDOF) concept to
analyze the global behavior, especially the energy absorption capacity of RC and
ECC panels. From the analysis, the higher ultimate resistance and maximum al-
lowable deflection of the ECC panels appeared to be the main parameters contri-
buting to the higher energy absorption capacity and hence the enhanced global re-
sistance of the ECC panels over their RC counterparts. The results of this study
and those of previous studies on the strain rate effect of hybrid-ECC and its impact
resistance against high velocity impact from small-mass projectile provided relia-
ble evidence for the advantages of using ECC materials in protective structures.
ECC75
ECC50
Indent Depth (mm

30
FRC100

20
RC100

10
ECC100
0
0 4 8 12 16
Impact Number

Fig. 3. Indent depth against number of impacts

Fig. 4. Damage development in RC100 panel on impact face at 1st impact (left), 2nd impact
(middle), and 3rd impact (right)

Fig. 5. Damage development of ECC 100 panel on impact face at 1st impact (left) and at
10th impact (right)
Structural Applications of Hybrid Fiber Engineered Cementitious Composites 201

4 Effective FRP-Strengthening of RC Beams

The applications of Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Composites to concrete

structures have been studied intensively over the past few years in view of the
many advantages that FRPs possess. While FRPs have been shown to be effective
in strengthening RC beams, strength increases have generally been associated with
reductions in the beams’ deflection capacities due to premature debonding. De-
bonding failure modes occur mainly due to interfacial shear and normal stress
concentrations at FRP-cut off points and at flexural cracks along the RC beam.
Maalej & Leong [4] suggested that if the quasi-brittle concrete material which
surrounds the main flexural reinforcement is replaced with a ductile layer of ECC,
then it would be possible to delay the debonding failure mode and hence increase
the deflection capacity of the strengthened beam.
When ECC is introduced in a RC member, more but thinner cracks are ex-
pected to form on the beam tensile face rather than fewer but wider cracks in the
case of an ordinary concrete beam. More frequent but finer cracks are expected to
reduce crack-induced stress concentration and result in a more efficient stress dis-
tribution in the FRP layer. The objective of the above-study was to establish both
experimentally and numerically the structural performance of FRP-strengthened
RC beams incorporating a ductile ECC layer around the main flexural reinforce-
ment. The load-carrying and deflection capacities as well as the maximum FRP
strain at failure were used as criteria to evaluate the performance.
The experimental program included two series of RC beams where one series
consisted of two ordinary RC beams (beam A1 and A2) and another series con-
sisted of two ECC layered beams (ECC-1 and ECC-2). In each series, one speci-
men was strengthened using externally-bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer
(CFRP) sheets while the second was kept as a control1 in order to compare
its load-deflection behavior under third-point loading with the strengthened
specimen.
It can be seen from Fig. 6 that the CFRP strengthened beams with an ECC layer
(e.g. beam ECC-2) depicted higher load-carrying capacity compared to their ordi-
nary reinforced concrete counterparts (e.g. beam A2). If expressed in term of
strengthening ratio (SR, defined as the strength of beam with CFRP reinforcement
divided by the strength of control beam), beam ECC-2 had a strengthening ratio of
about 1.43, compared to 1.28 for beam A2. Also, it can be seen that beam ECC-2
showed a significantly higher deflection capacity (29.6mm) at peak load compared
to beam A2 (21.9mm).
On the cracking behavior, both ECC-1 and ECC-2 showed a considerable num-
ber of fine cracks compared to the ordinary RC beams (beam A1 and A2) as
revealed in Fig. 7. The crack spacings were consequently much smaller in the
former beams, particularly in ECC-2. These multiple but fine cracks played a

1
Specimens A1 and ECC1 are control specimens without any CFRP reinforcement.
202 M. Maalej

major role in reducing crack-induced stress concentration resulting in more effi-

cient stress distribution in the CFRP sheet and a better stress transfer between the
CFRP and the concrete beam. This delayed intermediate crack-induced interfacial
debonding and resulted in higher strengthening ratio and higher deflection capaci-
ty and, therefore, a more effective use of the CFRP material.
The above experimental results showed that the ECC had indeed delayed de-
bonding of the CFRP and resulted in effective use of the CFRP material. With the
use of ECC as a ductile layer, RC beams can effectively be strengthened while
minimizing loss in deflection capacity. These positive results warrant further stu-
dies on the use of ECC in combination with CFRP to repair and strengthen deteri-
orating RC structures, particularly those where deteriorated concrete has to be re-
placed with a new repair material.
100

80 ECC-2
A2 ECC-1
A1
Load (kN)

60

40

20

0
0 10 20 30 40
Midspan deflection (mm)

Fig. 6. Load-deflection curves of beams A1, A2, ECC-1, and ECC-2

Fig. 7. Cracking patterns in beams A2 (left) and ECC-2 (right) around the loading point

5 Corrosion-Resistant RC Beams
As an alternate method of improving the corrosion resistance of RC beams ex-
posed to aggressive substances, Maalej and Li [5] proposed a new design for RC
flexural members where part of the concrete which surrounds the main flexural
reinforcement is replaced with a strain hardening ECC material. This alternate de-
sign with layered ECC has been referred to as Functionally-Grade Concrete
(FGC). It was suggested that the ECC material in FGC beams could provide two
Structural Applications of Hybrid Fiber Engineered Cementitious Composites 2003

levels of protection. Firstt, it could prevent the migration of aggressive substancees

into the concrete, thereforre, preventing reinforcement corrosion. Second, in the exx-
treme case when corrosiion initiates, accelerated corrosion due to longitudinnal
cracks would be reduced (if not eliminated), and spalling and delamination probb-
lems common to many of today’s RC structures would be prevented. This is exx-
pected due to the high straain capacity and fracture resistance of the ECC material.

Fig. 8. Corrosion status of stteel in OPCC-2 beam (Top) and FGC-3 beam (bottom)

2000

OPCC-2 (1686 με)

1600
FOSS Reading (με)

2-13mm bars
1200 240 FOSS ∅6 mm @ 120mm c//c
800 300 Fiber optic cab
ble
3-16mm bars
FGC-3 (442 με)
400
210
FGC-2 (277 με)
0
0 25 50 75 100 125 150
T
Time (days)

Fig. 9. Corrosion-induced tensile strain in concrete as measured by FOSS gauge

Maalej et al. [6] adoptedd the above concept to prepare a series of FGC beam ms
where the main longitud dinal reinforcements were surrounded by a hybrid fibeer
reinforced mortar materiaal exhibiting strain hardening and multiple cracking undeer
third-point flexural loadiing. The hybrid fiber reinforcement consisted of higgh
modulus (steel) and low modulus
m (PVA) fibers used with respective volume fracc-
tions of 1% and 1.5%. Th he objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness
of the FGC concept in rettarding the corrosion of steel reinforcement in RC beam ms
and reducing the tendenccy of the concrete cover to delaminate as measured by a
concrete embeddable fibeer optic strain sensor (FOSS). The effects of steel loss annd
corrosion damage on the flexural response of RC beams were also be evaluated.
The experimental program m included 2 control RC beams (OPCC beams) made oor
ordinary Portland cement concrete and 3 FGC beams.
204 6 Conclusions

At any given time, the FGC beams were found to exhibit lower level of steel
loss than the OPCC beam (see Fig. 8). It was also observed that an FGC beam
takes about 70% longer time to achieve the same level of induced steel loss
compared to an OPCC beam. The better performance of the FGC beams over the
OPCC beam was also evident from the absence of any corrosion-induced cracks or
damage and the lowest tendency for the concrete cover to delaminate as measured
by a concrete embeddable FOSS (see Fig. 9). For the same level of steel loss, an
FGC specimen exhibited higher residual load and deflection capacities compared
to its OPCC counterpart. While a corroded OPCC beam was found to experience
widening of corrosion-induced cracks, delamination and spalling during loading,
no such behavior was observed in the FGC beams. The FGC concept was found in
the above study to be very effective in preventing corrosion-induced damage in
RC beams and minimizing the loss in the beam’s load and deflection capacities.

6 Conclusions

This paper reviewed some of the recent progress in the structural applications of
hybrid fiber Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC). In all cases, the ability
to achieve a balance between high strength and high ductility of the ECC material
through the use of hybrid fibers was very important in meeting the material per-
formance requirements for the respective applications. For the reviewed applica-
tions, the use of hybrid fiber ECC had resulted in a significant improvement in the
performance of the structural members (in terms of either impact resistance,
strengthening and deflection capacities, or corrosion resistance) over conventional
counterparts.

References
[1] Ahmed, S.F.U., Maalej, M., Paramasivam, P.: Analytical model for tensile strain-
hardening and multiple-cracking behaviour of hybrid fiber engineered cementitious
composites. ASCE J. of Materials in Civil Engineering 19(7), 527–539 (2007)
[2] Li, V.C., Leung, C.K.Y.: Steady State and Multiple Cracking of Short Random Fiber
Composites. ASCE J. of Engineering Mechanics 118(11), 2246–2264 (1992)
[3] Zhang, J., Maalej, M., Quek, S.T.: Performance of Hybrid-Fiber ECC Blast/Shelter
Panels Subjected to Drop Weight Impact. ASCE Journal of Materials in Civil Engi-
neering 19(10), 855–863 (2007)
[4] Maalej, M., Leong, K.S.: Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) for Effective
FRP-Strengthening of RC Beams. Composites Science and Technology 65(7-8),
1120–1128 (2005)
[5] Maalej, M., Li, V.C.: Introduction of Strain Hardening Engineered Cementitious Com-
posites in the Design of Reinforced Concrete Flexural Members for Improved Durabil-
ity. ACI Structural Journal 92(2), 167–176 (1995)
[6] Maalej, M., Ahmed, S.F.U., Paramasivam, P.: Corrosion Durability and Structural Re-
sponse of Functionally-Graded Concrete Beams. Journal of Advanced Concrete Tech-
nology 1(3), 307–316 (2003)