Effect of fiber constituent in matrix on cyclic behavior of PVA-Steel hybrid Fiber-Reinforced cementitious composites columns with mild steel rebar

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the seismic performance of reinforced cementitious composites columns strengthen by different fibers addition strategies. Six fiber-reinforced cementitious composites (FRCCs) columns are tested under reversed cyclic loading to explore the impact of Cementitious composites with Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers and hybrid cementitious composites simultaneously containing PVA and steel (ST) fibers on hysteresis behavior of the columns, in which fiber dosage and the combination proportion of PVA and ST fibers in composites are focused. The structural performance of the tested columns is evaluated based on the characteristics of the cracking behavior, ductility, load-carrying capacity, stiffness degradation, energy-dissipation capacity, and strain profiles of the reinforcements. The test results indicate that columns with 2 % vol. fibers compared to those including 1 % vol. fibers presented the better performance in terms of cracking behavior, ductility, and energy dissipation. The cementitious composites reinforced by 1.5 % vol. PVA + 0.5% vol. ST fibers contributes to the column characterized by optimum ductility in comparison to all columns with the other fibers. The highest energy dissipation capacity among the tested columns is observed in the case of the composites with 1 % vol. PVA + 1 % vol. ST fibers. The column with 0.5 % vol. PVA + 0.5 % vol. ST fibers manifests the better load carrying capacity over the rest of columns.