Dynamic tensile properties of steel fiber reinforced polyethylene fiber-engineered/strain-hardening cementitious composites (PE-ECC/SHCC) at high strain rate

Although the conventional engineered/strain-hardened cementitious composites (ECC/SHCC) have excellent static performance, their performance under the high-speed impact effect is less satisfactory. This paper develops a dynamic impact tensile testing system that can be used for various cementitious composites. The dynamic impact tensile properties of PE-SHCC with four different steel fiber incorporations (0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5%) at high strain rates (10° - 102 s−1) are investigated. The results show that incorporating steel fiber contributes to improving the dynamic impact cracking strength, tensile strength, strain properties, and the possibility of multiple cracking of SHCC. The cross-sectional pattern shows that the dynamic tensile effect changes the damage mode of PE fibers in SHCC after steel fiber incorporation: from rupture to pull-out. The potential of PE fibers under dynamic effect is activated. The dynamic increment factor of steel fiber reinforced PE-SHCC is closer to that of ultra-high-performance concrete with larger steel fiber incorporation and higher strain rate.