Effects of gold tailings dosage and polyvinyl alcohol fibre content on the frost resistance of ECC

Abstract

The effects of gold tailings and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibre on the frost resistance of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) were investigated. The ECC were made with three gold tailings dosages and four PVA fibre contents. A water/binder (w/b) ratio of 0.28 was used for all mixtures. Surface damage, mass loss, relative dynamic elastic modulus, compressive strength and damaged layer thickness (DLT) were investigated to assess the frost resistance of the ECC. The results showed that the effect of gold tailings on the frost resistance of the ECC was marginal, but the frost resistance increased with an increase in PVA fibre content. The ECC with the addition of gold tailings had the same excellent frost resistance as those without gold tailings, indicating that it is feasible to replace silica sand with gold tailings at up to 100% replacement. A model to predict the DLT in ECC as a function of gold tailings dosage and freeze–thaw cycles was developed.