Fabrication and characterization of an engineered cementitious composite with enhanced fire resistance performance

Abstract

This study evaluated the fire resistance of a lightweight engineered cementitious composite under elevated temperature up to 900 °C. To achieve lightweight, waste recycled hollow glass microspheres, which comprise 45% of waste glass were obtained as an ultra-high-performance lightweight filler. And carbon nanofibre was added to maintain the mechanical properties of engineered cementitious composite while reducing the weight. This study aims to thoroughly understand the effect of hollow glass microsphere, carbon nanofibre, and their combination to the fire resistance of engineered cementitious composite. Three different types of hollow glass microspheres and four different types of carbon nanofibers were conducted in this research. The results showed that engineered cementitious composite contains both hollow glass microsphere and carbon nanofibre presented high fire resistance, which is able to remain 50% of original strength when exposed to high temperature at 900 °C. The compressive strength of composite was found to be slightly influenced with using hollow glass microsphere, although the total densities were reduced. Carbon nanofibre contribute to the composite’s strength of both normal and lightweight engineered cementitious composite and it is able to enhance mechanical performance when the samples are under elevated temperatures. Microscopy study found that carbon nanofibre contribute to the composite rehydration at high temperature. The work provides a promising way to develop lightweight engineered cementitious composite with high mechanical performance and fire resistance, and proved the possibility of partially replacing cementitious material with hollow glass microsphere.