Flexural properties of PVA fiber reinforced high ductility cementitious composites containing calcium carbonate whisker

Abstract

To reduce the cost and improve mechanical properties of PVA fiber reinforced high ductility cementitious composites (PVA-HDCCs), calcium carbonate (CaCO3) whisker (CW) was used to partially substitute PVA fibers, and thus a novel kind of the PVA-HDCC containing the CW was designed (PVA/CW-HDCC). Flexural properties of PVA/CW-HDCCs with the different PVA fiber and CaCO3 whisker contents were investigated. The results indicated that the PVA-HDCC flexural deflection hardening ability decreased with the PVA fiber content reduction. However, partially substituted PVA fibers by CWs improved the flexural strength, ultimate flexural deflection, flexural toughness and flexural deflection hardening behavior of PVA-HDCCs. Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) analysis results indicated that the group with 1.5% PVA + 0.5% CW had a higher cost performance than that of the group with 2% PVA fiber. To further understand the flexural properties of the designed HDCCs, a semi-empirical mathematical model considering the influence of CaCO3 whisker was proposed for predicting the flexural strength and ultimate flexural deflection of PVA/CW-HDCCs. The theoretical calculation results showed that the proposed model can be employed to predict flexural properties of PVA/CW-HDCCs.