Journal of Testing

and Evaluation
Jing Ji,1 Shilong Zhang,1 Liangqin Jiang,1 Lijian Zhou,2 Zhichao Xu,1
Yingchun Liu,1 and Dianyou Yu1

DOI: 10.1520/JTE20170596

Feasibility of Developing
Engineered Cementitious
Composite with High Volumes
of Fly Ash Using Cost-Effective
PVA Fiber

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 Journal of Testing and Evaluation

doi:10.1520/JTE20170596 available online at www.astm.org

Jing Ji,1 Shilong Zhang,1 Liangqin Jiang,1 Lijian Zhou,2 Zhichao Xu,1 Yingchun Liu,1 and
Dianyou Yu1

Feasibility of Developing Engineered

Cementitious Composite with High
Volumes of Fly Ash Using Cost-Effective
PVA Fiber

Reference
Ji, J., Zhang, S., Jiang, L., Zhou, L., Xu, Z., Liu, Y., and Yu, D., “Feasibility of Developing
Engineered Cementitious Composite with High Volumes of Fly Ash Using Cost-Effective PVA
Fiber,” Journal of Testing and Evaluation https://doi.org/10.1520/
JTE20170596. ISSN 0090-3973

ABSTRACT
Manuscript received October 13, In order to reduce the cost of Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC), a
2017; accepted for publication
feasibility study of ECC using a Cost-Effective Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) fiber
April 6, 2018; published online
September 28, 2018. (CEPVA-ECC) was developed based on the micromechanical design theory. A set
1
of ECCs with different amounts of fly ash replacement (up to 83 % replacement of
Heilongjiang Key Laboratory of
Disaster Prevention, Mitigation cement) was prepared. The CEPVA-ECC using much cheaper Chinese domestic
and Protection Engineering, PVA fiber (1/6–1/4 the price of the imported fiber) maintained the tensile ductility
College of Civil Engineering,
Northeast Petroleum University,
characteristics (4–5 %) with a moderate compressive strength (30–40 MPa). The
No. 99 Academy St., High Tech crack width was reduced with an increase of the fly ash amount. The strain map
Industrial Development Zone,
CEPVA-ECC was monitored by the Digital Image Correlation method.
Daqing 163318, China, https://
orcid.org/0000-0002-8276-0665
(J.J.)
Keywords
2
Heilongjiang Key Laboratory of engineered cementitious composites, cost-effective polyvinyl alcohol fiber, tensile ductility,
Disaster Prevention, Mitigation
digital image correlation
and Protection Engineering,
College of Civil Engineering,
Northeast Petroleum University,
No. 99 Academy St., High Tech Introduction
Industrial Development Zone,
Daqing 163318, China
Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC) is a new category of strain-hardening cemen-
(Corresponding author), e-mail:
[email protected] titious composite that incorporates short, randomly distributed polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)
fibers with a volume fraction of 2 % [1–3]. Different from conventional quasi-brittle

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 JI ET AL. ON DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH-VOLUME FLY-ASH ECC

concrete and tension-softening fiber-reinforced concrete, ECC exhibits strain-hardening

behavior after matrix first cracking [4]. The strain capacity of ECC, typically greater than 3
%, is several hundred times that of normal concrete [4].
In the past several decades, ECC has been widely studied around the world [5–14],
and it already had some applications in engineering fields [15–18]. However, in China, the
PVA fiber used in ECC has been routinely imported from a Japanese company, which
leads to a cost factor for ECC that is almost 10–20 times greater than that of normal con-
crete, which was the main obstacle for its wider application in China [10]. Particularly, the
cost of PVA fiber was almost 90 % of the total cost of ECC materials. Thus, to facilitate
wider application of ECC, it was necessary to find a replaceable fiber or cheaper fiber that
could be used for ECC in China.
Compared to normal concrete, traditional ECC uses more cement because of the ab-
sence of coarse aggregate in the mixture design. High cement content usually introduced
higher hydration heat, autogenous shrinkage, and material cost. Additionally, the environ-
mental impact, including the consumption of raw material and carbon dioxide emission,
was significant. A possible solution would be to replace a large portion of the cement in
ECC with industrial byproduct, for example, coal fly ash (FA). The replacement of cement
with FA would not sacrifice the tensile property of ECC.
FA is a byproduct of coal-burning power plants. With pozzolanic and cementitious
properties, it has been widely used as a substitute for cement in concrete. Previous research
has developed green ECC by incorporating different dosages of Class F FA in ECC with a
FA-to-cement ratio (FA/C) up to 5.6 [19], in which the cement content was 40 % less than
normal concrete. Additionally, the increasing amount of FA in ECC tended to improve
robustness (reduced variability) of tensile ductility and reduced the crack width and the
free-drying shrinkage in ECC [19].
Thus, this article focuses on the tensile properties of high-volume FA ECC using
domestic Cost-Effective PVA fiber (CEPVA-ECC) instead of imported PVA fiber in order
to reduce the cost of ECC materials. Appropriate mix proportions are determined through
experiments, utilizing knowledge obtained from ECC development theory. Mechanical
tests are then conducted to characterize the compressive and tensile strength, tensile
behavior, and tensile strain capacity. The mechanical properties of CEPVA-ECC are com-
pared with one that used Japanese PVA fiber. In addition, the tensile crack pattern is in-
vestigated by the Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique, providing information on the
number of cracks and crack width distribution over a given gauge length at any strain level.

ECC Design Theory

ECC is a fiber-reinforced composite with a strain-hardening property that is achieved by
the development of multiple and tightly spaced cracks. In order to attain the multiple
cracking state, two conditions should be satisfied. The first condition (strength condition)
specifies that the matrix fracture strength σc should be less than the fiber-bridging strength
σ0 on the weakest crack plane to ensure the occurrence of first crack in the matrix but not
the fiber fracture.

σc < σ0 (1)

where σc is determined by the matrix fracture toughness Km and preexisting internal flaw
size a0 [2]. The second condition (energy condition) requires that the crack tip toughness

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 JI ET AL. ON DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH-VOLUME FLY-ASH ECC

FIG. 1
Typical σ (δ) curve for tensile
strain hardening composites.
Triangle area up to σ0
represents complementary
energy J’b; triangle area up to
σss represents complementary
energy Jtip

Jtip be less than the complementary energy J’b, that is calculated from the bridging stress σ
versus crack opening δ curve, as illustrated in Fig. 1 [2,20].

Zδ0
J tip ≤ σ 0 δ0 − σðδÞdδ ≡ J b0 (2)

K 2m
J tip = (3)
Em

The strength criterion represented by Eq 1 controls the initiation of cracks, while the
energy criterion (Eq 2) governs the crack propagation mode. Requirements of both Eqs 1
and 2 should be fulfilled to achieve the strain-hardening behavior. Moreover, a large mar-
gin between J’b and Jtip is preferred because of the random nature of preexisting flaw size
and fiber distribution in ECC. The Pseudo Strain-Hardening (PSH) performance index has
been defined to quantitatively assess this margin and is defined as follows [21]:

J b0
PSH = (4)
J tip

To illustrate the influence of fiber and interface parameters on fiber-bridging behav-

ior, Eq 5 shows the σ (δ) relation for a special case where short fibers are aligned to tensile
direction and no fiber rupture is considered. Slip-hardening phenomenon is also neglected
for simplicity [22].
8 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
> Ef V f Ef δ
< 2V f ð2Gd + τ0 δÞ df − Lf
> δ ≤ δc
σðδÞ = 4V τ L 2 (5)
>
> f 0 f
−δ
L
δc < δ ≤ 2f
:
Lf df 2

where δc is the crack opening when all fibers, regardless of embedment length, finish de-
bonding. Complementary energy J’b can then be calculated as follows:
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
0
V f τ20 L3f
2V f Gd Lf 8V f Gd 2Ef Gd 2V f Ef Gd
Jb = − + − (6)
6df Ef df 3τ0 df τ20 Lf

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where Vf is the fiber content equal to 2.0 %, df is the fiber diameter, Lf is the fiber length,
and Ef is the modulus of elasticity.
Eq 6 can be further simplified by dropping the last two terms with relatively small
values:

 
Lf τ20 L2f
J b0 = V f − 2Gd (7)
df 6df Ef

Eq 7 indicates that high chemical bond Gd diminishes J’b and reduces the multiple-
cracking potential. Although Eq 7 suggests that high interface friction τ0 helps to improve
J’b, excessive τ0 may cause fiber rupture during debonding and hence decrease J’b.
Moreover, the larger fiber aspect ratio Lf/df can also improve J’b.
Materials with a greater PSH index have a better chance of saturated multiple crack-
ing. The saturation of multiple cracking is achieved when microcracks are uniformly and
closely spaced (at approximately 1 to 2 mm), and the crack spacing cannot be further
reduced under additional tensile loading of a uniaxial tensile specimen. Robustness of ten-
sile ductility refers to the consistency of tensile capacity from one specimen to another. To
measure the extent of saturation of multiple cracking, PSH intensity has been used and is
defined as crack spacing ratio [21]:

xtest
PSH intensity = d
(8)
xd

where xd is the theoretical crack spacing calculated from Eq 9 [23] and xdtest is the crack
spacing measured experimentally. Crack spacing herein is defined as the distance between
two adjacent cracks. The minimum value of PSH intensity is 1, which indicates a fully
saturated multiple cracking state. According to Li and Leung [24], the PSH intensity
should fall between 1 and 2 for saturated PSH behavior:
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi !
1 ð1 − V f Þσ mu Lf d f ð4 + f 2 Þ
xd = L − L2f − (9)
2 f V f τ0 ð1 + eπf =2 Þ

where f is the fiber snubbing coefficient, and σmu is the matrix-cracking strength.

Experimental Studies
MATERIALS AND MIX PROPORTIONS
Previous research [22] incorporating FA into ECC design (FA/C = 0 to 1.5) indicates that
the use of FA reduces matrix toughness and the fiber/matrix interfacial chemical bond,
which makes the satisfaction of multiple cracking easier to attain and is therefore beneficial
for ECC strain-hardening behavior. Yang, Yang, and Li [19] further developed green ECCs
that incorporate different dosages of Class F FA with an FA/C up to 5.6 and thus attained
stable tensile property.
Four high-volume FAs using CEPVA-ECC with various FA contents (FA/C ranges
from 2.3 to 5 by weight) were examined in this research. For comparison, PVA-ECC with
FA/C = 2.3 (i.e., Mixture 1 in Table 1) using the Kuraray fiber imported from a Japanese
company was also prepared. The mixture design of CEPVA-ECC can be found in Table 1.

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TABLE 1
Mixture proportion of CEPVA-ECCs.

High-Range Water-Reducing
Mixture FA/C Cement (kg/m3) Fly Ash (kg/m3) Sand (kg/m3) Water (kg/m3) Admixture (kg/m3) PVA Fiber (kg/m3)

1 2.3 396.8 925.6 396.8 330.6 3.0 26

2 3.0 330.6 991.8 396.8 330.6 3.0 26
3 4.0 264.5 1,058.1 396.8 330.6 3.0 26
4 5.0 220.8 1,104.4 396.8 330.6 3.0 26

The materials used in the production of the ECC mixture were 42.5R Type I ordinary
portland cement (OPC), Class F FA, sand, water, PVA fibers, and a poly(carboxylic ether)-
type high-range water-reducing (HRWR) admixture. The chemical compositions and
physical properties of the OPC and FA are presented in Table 2. A fine silica sand with
a maximum grain size of 180 μm and a mean size of 135 μm was adopted in the ECC
mixtures. In all mixtures, the water-binder (cement and FA) ratio (w/c) was controlled at
0.25. The properties of domestic and imported PVA fibers are presented in Table 3, and
the appearance of both PVA fibers are demonstrated in Fig. 2. Both fibers are surface-
treated to reduce the fiber/matrix interfacial bond strength. The imported fiber is oiled
with 1.2 % by mass and the CEPVA is oiled no less than 1.2 %, but the detailed weight
is unknown because of company confidence. This oil mass ratio was made through ECC
micromechanics material design theory and has been experimentally demonstrated in pre-
vious investigations [1,25]. It is noted that the Lf/df of the domestic fiber are slightly larger
than the one from the Kuraray fiber, which increases the fiber-bridging capacity, ultimate
tensile strength, and strain capacity of the composite [16].

MIXING AND CURING

A mixer with a 5 L capacity was used to prepare all ECC mixtures. Solid ingredients, in-
cluding cement, FA, and sand, were first mixed for 1–2 minutes. Water and a HRWR
admixture were then added into the dry mixture and mixed for another 3 minutes.
The liquefied fresh mortar matrix should reach a consistent and uniform state before add-
ing fibers. The domestic and imported PVA fibers were slowly added into the mortar
matrix and mixed until all fibers are evenly distributed. The whole mix process lasts

TABLE 2
Chemical composition and physical properties of cement and FA.

Chemical Composite (%) Physical Properties

Cao SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 MgO SO3 K2O Na2O LOI Spec.grav Ret.on 45 μm (%) Water req. (%)

Cement 66.3 22.0 5.4 3.4 1.9 2.4 0.47 1.7 3.15 12.9 –
Fly ash 8.0 50.7 20.9 8.7 3.7 2.2 2.1 2.7 – 2.18 9.6 93.4

TABLE 3
Properties of CEPVA fiber and Kuraray PVA fiber.

Fiber Type Nominal Strength (MPa) Diameter (μm) Length (mm) Young’s Modulus (GPa) Elongation (%) Fiber Aspect Ratio

Cost-effective fiber 1,350 35.5 12 21.2 10 338

Kuraray fiber 1,620 39 12 42.8 7 308

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FIG. 2 CEPVA fiber and imported PVA fiber.

for about 10 minutes. The mixture was then cast into molds. Specimens were demolded
after 24 h. After demolding, specimens were cured in air at room temperature before test-
ing. The temperature was 25°C ± 5°C, and the relative humidity in the laboratory air was
75 ± 5 %.

SPECIMENS AND TEST EQUIPMENT

A compressive test was conducted for each mixture at the age of 28 days. Cubes measuring
70.7 by 70.7 by 70.7 mm were used in this study. Bone-shaped specimens (Fig. 3) were
used to conduct uniaxial tensile tests for each mixture. Uniaxial tensile testing was con-
ducted following the test method recommended by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers
[26]. The matrix fracture toughness Km was measured by a three-point bending test ac-
cording to ASTM E399, Standard Test Method for Linear-Elastic Plane-Strain Fracture
Toughness KIc of Metallic Materials. Beam specimens measuring 354 mm in length,
76 mm in height, and 38 mm in thickness were cast without adding fibers. The span
of support is 304 mm and the notch depth-to-height ratio is 0.4.
Uniaxial tensile tests give the material tensile stress-strain behavior. An electronic
servotesting system was used in displacement control mode to conduct the tensile test.
The loading rate used was 0.2 mm/min to simulate a quasi-static loading condition.
Two external linear variable displacement transducers were attached to the specimen with
a gauge length of approximately 80 mm to measure the specimen deformation.

CRACK PATTERN ANALYSIS

Crack pattern analysis was conducted by using the DIC technique [27–29]. DIC is a non-
contact measurement method that analyzes surface displacement/strain within a calcu-
lated area of an object. The biggest advantage of the DIC technique is to provide full
field surface displacement/strain fields with high resolution, which has been quite difficult
to accomplish with conventional measurement equipment, such as strain gages.
For the DIC analysis, random speckle patterns were then created on the specimen
surface by white and black spray painting (Fig. 4). During tension testing, a digital camera

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FIG. 3
Dimensions of the bone-shaped
60
specimen and test setup:
(a) specimens dimensions and
(b) test setup.
85

Grip for specimen

40

Displacement
80 30 Measurement LVDT LVDT Frame for LVDTs
Zone

40

Plan View Side View

85 Unit: mm

13
(a) (b)

FIG. 4
Test setup and the speckled
specimen for DIC measurement.

was mounted on a tripod in front of the testing machine, and digital images were taken at a
20 s interval by using a remote control. In this study, a 2-D image correlation analysis was
conducted to measure in-plane deformations by using commercial software Vic2D
(Correlated Solutions Inc., Irmo, SC).

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Experimental Results and Discussion

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CEPVA-ECC
The compressive strength of four CEPVA-ECCs with different FA contents aged for
28 days is summarized in Fig. 5. As can be seen from the curve, the replacement of cement
by Class F FA generally reduces the compressive strength of the ECC. Even at 70 %
replacement of cement (FA/C = 2.3), however, the compressive strength of ECC at 28 days
can still reach 35 MPa. FA is usually considered a beneficial ingredient for long-term
strength development in concrete because of its pozzolanic properties. In CEPVA-
ECC, however, secondary hydration of FA may only reach a very limited reaction degree
because the FA content is relatively high in proportion to cement, and FA may remain in
the system as fillers even after a long time of curing. The second reason is that the very low
water-cementitious material ratio (w/c = 0.25) provides limited water to promote the re-
action of secondary hydration between FA and cement products; moreover, the specimens
were cured in air for 28 days. Therefore, loss of internal humidity in low w/c CEPVA-ECCs
may arrest further hydration [30].
Fig. 6 shows the 28-day tensile stress-strain curves of Kuraray PVA-ECC and
CEPVA-ECC when FA/C = 2.3. From the uniaxial tension test, the two kinds of ECCs
exhibit tensile strain hardening behavior, indicating that the most unique property of
ECC, tensile strain hardening, is retained and is not sacrificed by use of the CEPVA fiber.
Table 4 lists the tensile parameters, including the initial cracking stress, the peak
stress, the strain capacity, and the strain energy of Kuraray PVA-ECC and CEPVA-ECC.
The value of strain energy is the integral of the stress-strain curve until the peak stress. The
tensile properties of CEPVA-ECC are slightly higher than the Kuraray PVA-ECC in terms
of these four parameters. Since 1.2 % oil (by weight) also coated the CEPVA, the interfacial
bond stresses of these two fibers were considered to be the same, so the main reason for the
higher values of tensile parameters in CEPVA-ECC was attributed to the higher fiber as-
pect ratio of the CEPVA fiber described in Table 3.
Fig. 7 shows the 28-day tensile stress-strain curves of CEPVA-ECCs with different
FA/C ratios. All the CEPVA-ECCs exhibited tensile strain hardening behavior that

FIG. 5
Compressive strength of
CEPVA-ECCs.

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FIG. 6
Stress-strain curves of ECCs
(FA/C = 2.3) with cost-effective
domestic PVA fiber and
imported fiber: (a) ECC with
cost-effective domestic PVA
fiber and (b) ECC with imported
fiber.

indicated that the tensile ductility of ECC was retained and was not sacrificed by replacing
the cement with a large amount of Class F FA and by using CEPVA fiber. While the tensile
stress of CEPVA-ECC during the loading process with higher FA/C ratios was obviously
lower than the one with a lower FA/C ratio.
Fig. 8 shows the tensile properties against FA/C. It is concluded that the tensile
strength generally decreased with an increase in the FA content while the tensile strain
almost kept steady with different FA contents.
The multiple cracks ECC material kept constant crack width during the strain-
hardening stage [31]. The magnitude of the crack width controls many transport proper-
ties in cracked concrete materials and has a direct impact on durability [32,33]. Fig. 9
shows the residual crack width of an unloaded specimen after the uniaxial tensile test.

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TABLE 4
The tensile parameters of Kuraray PVA-ECC and CEPVA-ECC.

Initial Cracking Stress, MPa Peak Stress, MPa Strain Capacity, % Strain Energy, kJ/m3

Kuraray PVA-ECC 3.25 4.37 4.27 170.81

3.31 4.45 4.71 181.27
3.22 4.07 4.34 179.27
3.15 4.16 4.95 183.41
Average 3.23 4.26 4.57 178.69
Deviation 0.07 0.18 0.32 5.52
CEPVA-ECC 3.40 4.61 5.20 206.29
3.15 4.09 4.34 159.70
3.34 4.30 5.01 189.99
Average 3.30 4.33 4.85 185.33
Deviation 0.13 0.26 0.45 23.64

FIG. 7 Tensile stress-strain curves of CEPVA-ECCs at different FA/C ratios: (a) FA/C = 3.0, (b) FA/C = 4.0, (c) FA/C = 5, and (d) all the
FA/C ratios.

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FIG. 8
Tensile strength and strain
capacity of CEPVA-ECCs.

FIG. 9
Residual crack width of CEPVA-
ECC: (a) residual crack width of
FA/C = 2.3 and (b) residual
crack width of FA/C = 4.

(a) (b)

In Fig. 9, the crack width of the black line on a scale plate was used to indicate the crack
width. The crack widths were also measured from three specimens of each mixture using
the DIC method at peak load. It was found that the crack width reduced as the FA content
increased. The residual crack width of ECC specimens with FA/C = 5 was less than 30 μm
(Table 5). This observation suggests that CEPVA-ECC will most likely have lower per-
meability and better durability, even in the presence of microcracks when compared with
cracked concrete [32]. The properties of tight crack widths in CEPVA-ECC are the same as
those of the HVFA-ECCs in previous research [19] and are likely to promote self-healing
behavior [34].

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TABLE 5
Crack number and residual crack width of CEPVA-ECC.

FA/C 2.3 3 4 5

Crack number 55 65 80 95
Crack width at peak stress (μm) 70 58 45 38

MICROMECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF CEPVA-ECC

A single-fiber pullout test was performed for Mixtures 1, 2, 3 and 4 after 28 days to quan-
tify the fiber/matrix interfacial properties as a function of FA content (see Fig. 10). Two
interfacial parameters, including the chemical bond strength Gd and the frictional bond
stress τ0 were determined by this test. Specimen preparation, test configuration, data
processing, and calculation of interfacial parameters are according to previous research
[19]. A 5 N force transducer was used to record the pullout force during the whole process.
The single PVA fiber was stuck to the steel rod. The speed of the single-fiber test was kept
at 0.1 mm/min. The interfacial parameters along with other micromechanic parameters
were then used to calculate the fiber bridging law σ(δ). The resulting complementary en-
ergy J’b, calculated from the σ(δ) curve combined with the matrix fracture toughness Jtip
obtained from the Km measurement were used as inputs to evaluate material behavior, that
is, strain hardening or tension softening, and to calculate the PSH index.
Fig. 11 shows that the chemical bond stress Gd decreased with FA content, while the
frictional bond stress increased with FA content. The changing tendency of the two param-
eters with FA content is coincident with the previous research [19]. However, in another
research study [6], the interfacial frictional bond deceased slightly with FA contents; this
different trend may be attributed to the different particle sizes of FA that were utilized in
different research.
The measured matrix fracture toughness Km using a three-point bending test is listed
in Fig. 12. The geometry of matrix specimens was referred to in previous research [9].

FIG. 10
Single-fiber pullout test.

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FIG. 11
(a) Chemical bond stress and
(b) frictional bond stress as a
function to the FA content.

With the increase of FA content, the matrix Km decreased significantly, which was desir-
able to improve the strain hardening potential.
Fig. 13 shows the result of the PSH index of CEPVA-ECCs as a function of FA con-
tents. To calculate the PSH index, the complementary energy J’b was calculated from Eq 7,
and the matrix toughness Jtip is determined by Eq 3 using experimentally measured matrix
fracture toughness Km and the matrix Young’s modulus Em. The Em was calculated from
the force-displacement curves of a three-point bending test. The PSH index is greater than
one, which means the satisfaction of Eq 2. Moreover, ECC with higher FA content has
higher value of PSH index, which indicates a larger margin between J’b and Jtip and implies
a better chance of saturated multiple crackings.
The PSH intensity index against FA/C was evaluated based on the observed crack
spacing xdtest measured from the uniaxial tensile tests and the theoretical crack spacing
xd calculated from Eq 9 [23]. The value of PSH intensity was suggested to fall between
1 and 2, which indicated a fully saturated multiple cracking. A smaller PSH intensity value

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FIG. 12
Matrix fracture toughness as a
function to FA content.

FIG. 13
PSH index of CEPVA-ECC as a
function to FA content.

represented more saturated and robust multiple cracking behavior (that is, robust tensile
strain capacity).
Assuming f = 0.2 and using matrix cracking strength [23], the calculated crack spac-
ings xd were 0.88, 0.75, 0.61, and 0.48 mm for FA/C from 2.3 to 5, respectively, while the
measured crack spacings were 1.6, 1.27, 0.97, and 0.76 mm for FA/C from 2.3 to 5, agreeing
well with the theoretical crack spacing of saturated multiple cracking, i.e., in the range
between xd and 2xd. The measured and calculated crack spacings are shown in Fig. 14.

CRACK PATTERN ANALYSIS BY DIC

Strain maps of Mixture 3 for different strain levels are obtained as shown in Fig. 15.
Multiple cracks were clearly seen and saturated over the calculated area as the strain level
increased.

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 JI ET AL. ON DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH-VOLUME FLY-ASH ECC

FIG. 14
Measured and calculated crack
spacings.

FIG. 15
Strain maps illustrate multiple
crack formation during loading
for FA/C = 4.

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Economic Analysis for CEPVA-ECC

Although ECC has apparent mechanical and durability property advantages compared to
conventional concrete [4], the main obstacle for its wide application is that it comes at a
much higher price than conventional concrete. It is estimated that the cost of ECC using
imported Kuraray PVA fiber in China is 10–20 times the cost of normal concrete. For ECC
material specifically, the cost of the PVA fiber itself contributes the largest amount to the
total cost. Nowadays, the majority of PVA fiber for ECC that is used in China is imported
from Kuraray with the price of approximately 250 RMB/kg (40 USD/kg). Hence, in a
typical ECC mix proportion with 2 % fiber volume, 26 kg of PVA (the density of PVA
is 1.3 g/mL) should be used, causing the total price to be more than 6,500 RMB/m3
($1,040 USD/kg) without considering the cost of binder and sand, while the price of ordi-
nary concrete is around 500 RMB/m3 ($80 USD/kg). The price of the CEPVA fiber used in
this research is only 40–60 RMB/kg ($6.40–9.60 USD/kg), which is 1/6–1/4 of the cost of
the imported PVA fiber. Hence, from an economic standpoint, the use of domestic PVA
fiber has an obvious advantage compared to the imported PVA fiber and will promote the
use of ECC in the engineering field.

Conclusions
A series of CEPVA-ECCs with different amounts of FA replacements using CEPVA fiber
was developed. This study demonstrates the feasibility of producing ECC with much
cheaper domestic fiber because it maintained tensile ductility characteristics. The following
detailed conclusions can be drawn:

(1) All the ECC mixtures using CEPVA-ECC demonstrated strain-hardening proper-
ties with the PSH index greater than 1. The tensile strength decreased with an in-
crease of FA content, while the tensile strain increased slightly with FA/C ratios.
The tensile strengths were 4.26 and 3.04 MPa, while the tensile strains were 4.85
and 4.90 % for FA/C = 2.3 and 5, respectively. The crack width decreased with the
increase of FA content, and the average crack width was 38 μm for FA/C = 5.
(2) An increase of FA content generally reduced the compressive strength of CEPVA-
ECC. When FA/C = 2.3, the compressive strength at 28 days can reach 35 MPa,
which is the regular strength grade for concrete in many applications. When
FA/C = 5, the compressive strength at 28 days is 22.5 MPa. ECCs with different
compressive strengths were expected to have wide application in engineering fields.
(3) The tensile properties of CEPVA-ECC were slightly greater than those of the
Kuraray PVA-ECC. The price of the CEPVA fiber used in this research was only
1/6–1/4 of the cost of the Kuraray PVA fiber, which largely reduced the cost of the
ECC. Additionally, the reduction in cost may increase the application of ECC in
practical engineering.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research work reported herein was made possible by the financial support from
PetroChina Innovation Foundation (No. 2016D-5007-0608); National Natural Science
Foundation of China (No. 51578120); Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang
Province (No. E201336); Natural Science Foundation of China (No. NEPUPY-1-16);
University Graduate InnovatiNurturing Foundation of Northeast Petroleum University of
National Naon Project of Northeast Petroleum University (No. YJSCX2016-031NEPU);

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and the Special Foundation of The Education Department of Heilongjiang Province of

Northeast Petroleum University Dominant research direction (No. 2016YSFX-02).

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