Research progress on sulfate durability of high ductility cementitious composites

Engineering buildings in severe environments (such as marine or salt lakes) are extremely vulnerable to sulfate attacks resulting in swelling and cracking, shortening the service life of the structure. The brittle fracture of ordinary concrete is a tremendous safety hazard for production and life. Thus, the enhancement of ductility and toughness of cement-based materials has been the endeavor of researchers in recent decades. High ductility cementitious composites (HDCC) with multiple cracking and strain hardening characteristics efficiently ameliorate the defects of poor ductility, low toughness, and weak crack control ability of concrete, which largely satisfies the engineering demands. However, sulfate attack affects the performance of HDCC and corrosion products bring diverse degrees of damage to the strength, ductility, fiber–matrix interface, etc. How it will affect the pivotal properties of HDCC is currently unclear. Therefore, based on the latest studies of HDCC, this paper reviews the effects of sulfate attack on the macromechanical properties, fiber–matrix interface properties, pore structure development and microstructure evolution of HDCC. The potential problems and research directions are also proposed from erosion damage mechanism, characterization instruments of destruction degree, micromechanical design theory and service life prediction and critical performance enhancement.