BENDABLE CONCRETE

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Conventional concretes are almost unbendable and have a strain capacity of only
0.1% making them highly brittle and rigid. This lack of bendability is a major cause of
failure under strain and has been a pushing factor in the development of an elegant
material namely, bendable concrete also known as Engineered Cementitious Composites
(ECC.) This material is capable to exhibit considerably enhanced flexibility. A bendable
concrete is reinforced with micromechanically designed polymer fibres.

ECC is made from the same basic ingredients as conventional concrete but with
the addition of High-Range Water Reducing (HRWR) agent as it is required to impart
good workability. However, coarse aggregates are not used in ECCs (hence it is a mortar
rather than concrete). The powder content of ECC is relatively high. Cementitious
materials, such as fly ash, silica fume, blast furnace slag, etc., may be used in addition to
cement for increasing the paste content. Typically, ECC uses 2% by volume of short,
discontinuous fibres. ECC incorporates super fine silica sand and tiny Polyvinyl Alcohol-
fibres covered with a very thin (nanometer thick), slick coating. This surface coating
allows the fibre to begin slipping when they are over loaded so they are not fracturing.

Fig. 1.1: Response of ECC under Flexural Loading.

DEPT. OF CIVIL ENGG., M.TECH, NCET. Page 1

 BENDABLE CONCRETE
ECC prevents the fibre from rupturing which would lead to large cracking. Thus
an ECC deforms much more than a normal concrete but without fracturing. Fig. 1.1
shows the behaviour of ECC under flexural loading and it can be seen that the beam can
deform well without direct failure. The different ingredients of ECC work together to
share the applied load. ECC has proved to be 50 times more flexible than traditional
concrete, and 40 times lighter, which could even influence design choices in skyscrapers
(Vol. 4, No. 1, February 2015 2015 IJSCER.) Additionally, the excellent energy
absorbing properties of ECC make it especially suitable for critical elements in seismic
zones.

DEPT. OF CIVIL ENGG., M.TECH, NCET. Page 2

 BENDABLE CONCRETE
CHAPTER 2

SCOPE AND BACKGROUND

Since ECC are more flexible than traditional concrete, it acts more like metal than
glass. Traditional concrete is considered to be a ceramic, brittle and rigid. It can suffer
catastrophic failure when strained in an earthquake or by routine overuse. It is studded
with specially-coated reinforcing fibres that hold it together. ECC remains intact and safe
to use at tensile strains up to 5%. Traditional concrete fractures and cant carry a load at
0.01 % tensile strain.

In recent times, builders reinforce concrete structures with steel bars in order to
keep cracks as small as possible. But theyre not small enough to heal. So, water and
deicing salts can penetrate till steel, causing corrosion that further weakens the structure.
Lis self-healing concrete needs no steel reinforcement to keep crack width tight, thereby
eliminating corrosion.

DEPT. OF CIVIL ENGG., M.TECH, NCET. Page 3

 BENDABLE CONCRETE
CHAPTER 3

INGREDIENTS OF BENDABLE CONCRETE

Engineered cementitious composite is a composition of cement, sand, fly ash,

water, small amount of admixtures and an optimal amount of fibres. In the mix, coarse
aggregates are deliberately not used because property of ECC Concrete is formation of
micro cracks with large deflection. Coarse aggregates increase crack width, which is
contradictory to the property of ECC Concrete.

3.1. CEMENT

Cement used is Ordinary Portland cement. Numerous organic compounds which

are used for adhering or fastening materials are called cements. But, these are classified as
adhesives, and the term cement alone means a construction material. Blastfurnace slag
may also be used in some cements and the cement is called Portland slag cement (PSC).
The colour of the cement is due mainly to iron oxide. In the absence of impurities, the
colour would be white. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) 53 grade (Ultratech Cement) is
normally used.

3.2. SAND [FINEAGGREGATE]

Fine aggregate / natural sand is an accumulation of grains of mineral matter

derived from the disintegration of rocks. It is distinguished from gravel only by the size of
the grains or particles. But it is distinct from clays which contain organic materials. Sands
that have been sorted out and separated from the organic material by the action of
currents of water or by winds across arid lands are generally quite uniform in size of
grains. Usually commercial sand is obtained from river beds or from sand dunes
originally formed by the action of winds. The most commercially used are silica sands,
often above 98% pure. Beach sands usually have smooth, spherical to ovoid particles
from the abrasive action of waves and tides and are free of organic matter. The white
beach sands are largely silica but may also be of zircon, monazite, garnet, and other
minerals.

DEPT. OF CIVIL ENGG., M.TECH, NCET. Page 4

 BENDABLE CONCRETE
Sand is used for making mortar and concrete and for also used for polishing and
sandblasting. Sands containing a little clay are used for making molds in foundries. Clear
sands are employed for filtering water. The weight varies from 1,538 to 1,842 kg/m3,
depending on the composition and size of grain. The fine aggregate passing through 4.75
mm sieve with a specific gravity of 2.68 is normally used. The grading zone of fine
aggregate will be zone III as per Indian Standard specifications.

3.3. SUPER PLASTICIZER

Super plasticizer used is Melamine Formaldehyde Sulphonate. This is used to

control rheological properties of fresh concrete. Super plasticizers are additives to fresh
concrete which help in dispersing the cement uniformly in the mix. This is achieved by
their deflocculating action on cement agglomerates by which water entrapped in the
groups of cement grains is released and it is available for workability. Typically super
plasticizer increase slump from say 5 cm to about 18-20 cm without addition of water.
When used to achieve reduction in mixing water they can reduce water up to 15-20% and
hence decrease W/C ratio by same amount. This results in increase in strength and other
properties like density, water tightness. Where thin sections are to be cast super
plasticizer can increase workability to pumpable level and almost no compaction is
required. This helps in avoiding honeycombing. The permeability of concrete is a guide
to its durability. Gross porosity is usually due to continuous passage in the concrete due to
poor compaction or cracks which can be minimized by the use of super plasticizer, the
incorporation of which provides increased workability maintaining low w/c ratio. It is
reported that coefficient of permeability of cement paste reduces considerably with the
reduction in w/c ratio. Thus super plasticizer can be used effectively to improve the
properties of concrete and avoid defect. Melamine based Super plasticizer are used to
assess their effectiveness in improving durability. Melamine based super plasticizer are
reported to be the best and hence chosen for the research work.

3.4. FLY ASH

Fly ash used is pozzocrete dirk 60. And specifications provided by suppliers are
given in Table 1. In RCC construction, use of fly ash has been successful in reducing heat
generation without loss of strength, increasing ultimate strength beyond 180 days, and

DEPT. OF CIVIL ENGG., M.TECH, NCET. Page 5

 BENDABLE CONCRETE
providing additional fines for compaction. Replacement levels of primary class fly ash
have ranged from 30-75% by solid volume of cementitious material. In proportioning
mixes, for minimum paste volumes, one of principal function of a fly ash is to occupy
void space which would otherwise be occupied by cement or water. Occupation of void
space with water would obviously result in reduction in concrete strength. The fact is that
even a small amount of free lime liberated from cement is sufficient to react with large
volume of fly ash. The huge amount of fly ash is produced in the thermal power stations.
Class F fly ash is utilized so the acquisition cost may be reduced.

3.5. PVA FIBRES

PVA fibre has suitable characteristics as reinforcing materials for cementitious

composites. High modulus of elasticity, durability, tensile strength and bonding strength
with concrete matrix are some of its desirable properties. PVA fibre has high strength and
modulus of elasticity (25 to 40GPa) compared to other general organic fibre which are
widely used for cement reinforcing. Fibre elongation is about 6-10%. The tensile strength
of fibre is between 880MPa to 1600MPa. One of the remarkable characteristics of PVA
fibre is strong bonding with cement matrix. The layer of Ca(OH)2 called ITZ(Interfacial
transition zone) around PVA fibre is formed as white part. And in case of PP, this layer is
not observed. It is known that PVA is easy to make complex cluster with metal
hydroxide. It is assumed that Ca+ and OH- ions in cement slurry are attracted by PVA
and makes Ca(OH)2 layer. It seems reasonable to think that Ca(OH)2 layer plays
DEPT. OF CIVIL ENGG., M.TECH, NCET. Page 6
 BENDABLE CONCRETE
important role for bonding strength. Fig. 2 shows images of surface for coarse PVA fibre
after single fibre pull-out test. This image implies that surface of PVA fibre is peeled by
Ca(OH)2 layer and this phenomena is related to strong bonding between PVA fibre and
cement matrix.

3.6. WATER

Water fit for drinking is generally considered fit for making concrete. Water
should be free from acids, oils, alkalis, vegetables or other organic Impurities. Soft waters
also produce weaker concrete. Water has two functions in a concrete mix. Firstly, it reacts
chemically with the cement to form a cement paste in which the inert aggregates are held
in suspension until the cement paste has hardened. Secondly, it serves as a vehicle or
lubricant in the mixture of fine aggregates and cement.

DEPT. OF CIVIL ENGG., M.TECH, NCET. Page 7

 BENDABLE CONCRETE
CHAPTER 4

MIX DESIGN

The mix design for ECC Concrete is basically based on Micromechanics design
basis. Micromechanics is a branch of mechanics applied at the material constituent level
that captures the mechanical interactions among the fibre, mortar matrix, and fibrematrix
interface. Typically, fibres are of the order of millimeters in length and tens of microns in
diameter, and they may have a surface coating on the nanometer scale. Matrix
heterogeneities in ECC, including defects, sand particles, cement grains, and mineral
admixture particles, have size ranges from nano to millimimeter scale. However the
micromechanics based mix design requires pull test to be carried on the PVA fibres,
which is not possible in the laboratory. Hence the ideal mix proportion given in the
literature of ECC Concrete is used as the guidelines to determine the proportion of
various constituents in the concrete. The ideal Mix proportion which can be taken as
reference is given in the following sections.

4.1. PROPORTIONING OF CONCRETE

Initially, mix proportion was 1:0.8004:1.1996, PVA fibre 1% and super plasticizer
dose was 1040.47 ml/bag and water to cementitious material ratio was 0.274. But by
using this proportion workability was not achieved. Hence for second trial, the mix
proportion was changed to 1 : 0.9 : 1.1 and PVA fibre percentage increased to 1.2% by
keeping same dose of super plasticizer and increasing water to cementitious material ratio
to 0.3048. Third trial mix proportion was 1:1:1 and PVA fibre 1.2%, super plasticizer
dosage was reduced to 600ml/bag and water to cementitious material ratio was 0.33.
Forth trial mix proportion was 1:0.9:1.1, PVA fibre percentage 1.2%, super plasticizer
dosage 600ml/bag along with water to cementitious material ratio was 0.3118. To achieve
workability various trials were taken. In fourth proportion super plasticizer dose was
reduced to obtain workability. For each trial mix, 3 cubes were casted and cured using the
accelerated curing tank and were tested to obtain desired strength requirement. After
testing cubes for each trial, the trail mix no. 3 was considered as most suitable and hence
the final mix proportion. However in order to increase the workability of concrete the

DEPT. OF CIVIL ENGG., M.TECH, NCET. Page 8

 BENDABLE CONCRETE
water to cementitious ratio was increased to 0.35. (Volume 2, Issue 4, April 2013,
IJAIEM)

4.2. CASTING PROCEDURE OF ECC- CONCRETE

The performance of the ECC Concrete is influenced by the mixing. This means
that a proper and good practice of mixing can lead to better performance and quality of
the ECC Concrete. The quality of the concrete is also influenced by the homogeneity of
the mix material, Flexural Test on Slab during the mixing and after the placement of fresh
concrete. A proper mix of concrete is encouraged to the strength of concrete and better
bonding of cement with the PVA fibres. Once the concrete mix design is finalized, the
mixing is carried out. The mixing of ECC Concrete is carried out by using hand mixing.
The procedure of hand mixing is as follows:- Add sand, cement, 50% of fly ash and 50%
water and super plasticizer. Add slowly remaining quantity of fly ash, water and super
plasticizer. Once the homogenous mixture is formed, add the PVA fibres slowly. Mix all
the constituents till the fibres are homogenously mixed in the matrix.

4.3. PLACING, COMPACTION AND CASTING OF

CONCRETE SPECIMENS.

Before placing of concrete, the concrete mould must be oiled for the ease of
concrete specimens stripping. The oil used is a mixture of diesel and kerosene. Special
care is taken during the oiling of the moulds, so that there are no concrete stains left on
the moulds. Once the workability test of ECC Concrete is done, the fresh concrete must
be placed into the concrete moulds for hardened properties tests. During the placing of
fresh concrete into the moulds, tamping is done using Tamping rod in order to reduce the
honeycombing. After placing the concrete into the moulds, vibrations are done using a
table vibrator. The vibration of concrete allows full compaction of the fresh concrete to
release any entrained air voids contained in the concrete. If the concrete is not compacted
to a proper manner, the maximum strength of the concrete cannot be achieved. After
vibration operation, the levelling of concrete is done on the surface of the concrete.
Levelling is the initial operation carried out after the concrete has been placed and
compacted. After the levelling of the fresh concrete is done, the concrete in the mould is
left overnight to allow the fresh concrete to set.

DEPT. OF CIVIL ENGG., M.TECH, NCET. Page 9

 BENDABLE CONCRETE
4.4. CURING OF CONCRETE SPECIMEN

After leaving the fresh concrete in the moulds to set overnight, the concrete
specimens in the moulds were stripping. The identification of concrete specimens was
done. After 24 hours, all the concrete specimens were placed into the curing tank with a
controlled temperature of 250C in further for 28 days for the hardened properties test of
concrete. Curing is an important process to prevent the concrete specimens from losing of
moisture while it is gaining its required strength. Lack of curing will lead to improper
gain in the strength. After 28 days of curing, the concrete specimens are removed from
the curing tank to conduct hardened properties test of ECC Concrete.

DEPT. OF CIVIL ENGG., M.TECH, NCET. Page 10

 BENDABLE CONCRETE
CHAPTER 5

COMPARISON WITH OTHER COMPOSITE

MATERIALS

Properties FRC Common HPFRCC ECC

Micromechanics based,
Design
N.A. Use high Vf minimize Vf for cost and
Methodology
processibility

Any type, Vf usually

Mostly steel, Vf Tailored, polymer fibres,
less than 2%; df for
Fibre usually > 5%; df ~ 150 Vf usually less than 2%;
steel ~ 500
micrometre df < 50 micrometre
micrometre

Controlled for matrix

Matrix Coarse aggregates Fine aggregates toughness, flaw size; fine
sand

Chemical and frictional

Interface Not controlled Not controlled bonds controlled for
bridging properties

Mechanical
Strain-softening: Strain-hardening: Strain-hardening:
Properties

Tensile strain 0.1% <1.5% >3% (typical); 8% max

Typically several
Typically < 100
hundred micrometres,
Crack width Unlimited micrometres during
unlimited beyond
strain-hardening
1.5% strain

Note: FRC=Fibre-Reinforced Cement. HPFRCC=High-Performance Fibre Reinforced

Cementitious Composites

DEPT. OF CIVIL ENGG., M.TECH, NCET. Page 11

 BENDABLE CONCRETE
CHAPTER 6

FIELD APPLICATIONS
ECC have found use in a number of large-scale applications in Japan, Korea,
Switzerland, Australia and the U.S. These include:

The Mitaka Dam near Hiroshima was repaired using ECC in 2003. The surface of the
then 60-year-old dam was severely damaged, showing evidence of cracks, spalling,
and some water leakage. A 20 mm-thick layer of ECC was applied by spraying over
the 600 m2 surface.
Also in 2003, an earth retaining wall in Gifu, Japan, was repaired using
ECC. Ordinary portland cement could not be used due to the severity of the cracking
in the original structure, which would have caused reflective cracking. ECC was
intended to minimize this danger; after one year only microcracks of tolerable width
were observed.
The 95 m (312 ft.) Glorio Roppongi high-rise apartment building in Tokyo contains a
total of 54 ECC coupling beams (two per story) intended to mitigate earthquake
damage. The properties of ECC (high damage tolerance, high energy absorption, and
ability to deform under shear) give it superior properties in seismic resistance
applications when compared to ordinary portland cement. Similar structures include
the 41-story Nabeaure Yokohama Tower (four coupling beams per floor.)
The 1 km (0.62 mi) long Mihara Bridge in Hokkaido, Japan was opened to traffic in
2005. The steel-reinforced road bed contains nearly 800 m3 of ECC material. The
tensile ductility and tight crack control behavior of ECC led to a 40% reduction in
material used during construction.
Similarly, a 225-mm thick ECC bridge deck on interstate 94 in Michigan was
completed in 2005. 30 m3 of material was used, delivered on-site in standard mixing
trucks. Due to the unique mechanical properties of ECC, this deck also used less
material than a proposed deck made of ordinary portland cement. Both the University
of Michigan and the Michigan Department of Transportation are monitoring the
bridge in an attempt to verify the theoretical superior durability of ECC; after four
years of monitoring, performance remained undiminished.

DEPT. OF CIVIL ENGG., M.TECH, NCET. Page 12

 BENDABLE CONCRETE
The first self-consolidating and high-early-strength ECC patch repair was placed on
Ellsworth Road Bridge over US-23 in November 2006. The high-early-strength ECC
can achieve a compressive strength of 23.59 1.40 MPa (3422.16 203.33 psi) in
four hours and 55.59 2.17 MPa (8062.90 315.03 psi) in 28 days, allowing for fast
repair and re-opening the session to traffic. The high-early-strength ECC repair has
shown superior long-term durability in field conditions compared to typical concrete
repair materials.

DEPT. OF CIVIL ENGG., M.TECH, NCET. Page 13

 BENDABLE CONCRETE

REFERENCES

[1]Kong, H.J., Bike, S.G., and Li, V.C., 2002, Constitutive rheological control to
develop a self-consolidating engineered cementitious composite reinforced with
hydrophilic poly(vinyl alcohol) fibres, in press, Cement and Concrete Comp

[2]Li, V. C.; Wu, H. C.; Maalej, M.; Mishra, D. K., "Tensile Behavior of Cement-based
Composites with Random Distributed Steel Fibres," J. Am. Ceram. Soc., V.79, No.1,
1996, pp. 74-78.

[3]ECC Technology International Network,

[4]Li VC. Advances in strain hardening cement based composites. In: Engineering
Foundation Conference on Advances in cement and concrete New Hampshire, July,
1994.p.24-9.

[5]Li VC, Kanda T. Engineered cementitious composites for structural applications.

ASCE J Mater Civil Eng 1998,

[6] Li, V.C. and Hashida, T., Engineering Ductile Fracture In Brittle Matrix Composites,
J. of Materials Science Letters, 8, 1993, pp. 898-901.

[7]. Li, V.C., Chan, C.M. and Leung, C.K.Y., Experimental Determination Of The
Tension- Softening Curve In Cementitious Composites, Cement and Concrete Research,
17(3) 1987, pp. 441-452.

[8]. ACI Committee 224, Control of Cracking In Concrete Structures, ACI Manual of
Concrete Practice Part 3-1991: Use of Concrete in Buildings-Design, Specifications, and
Related Topics, American Concrete Institute, Detroit, 1991.

[9].Li VC. From micromechanics to structural engineeringthe design of cementitious

composites for civil engineering applications.

[10] JSCE J Struct Mech Earthquake Eng 1993;10(2):3748.

DEPT. OF CIVIL ENGG., M.TECH, NCET. Page 14