Tension Stiffening and Cracking Behavior of Ultra High Strength Strain-Hardening Cement Composite (UHS-SHCC) Ties in Monotonic and Cyclic Tension

Abstract

This study investigates the tensile response of reinforced ultra high strength strain- hardening cement composite (UHS-SHCC) ties in directly monotonic and cyclic tension. The UHS-SHCC exhibits valuable material properties such as high compressive strength, tensile strain-hardening and ductility. However, UHS-SHCC requires high volume of cement, which leads to more shrinkage than conventional concrete. Authors have considered replacing a part of cement by the expansive admixture (EXA) for compensating the shrinkage of UHS-SHCC. Specifically, this paper explores the structural application of a shrinkage-compensating UHS-SHCC to improve tension stiffening in structural members. The cement composite type and EXA replacement were taken as experimental parameters. All specimens had a square cross-section dimension of 100 x 100mm and length of 1,500mm. The test results indicate that the shrinkage compensating UHS-SHCC is very effective to improve tension stiffening behavior and initial crack load of reinforced cement composite ties.