A Bio-inspired Cementitious Composite for High Energy Absorption in Infrastructural Applications

A Bio-inspired Cementitious Composite for High Energy Absorption in Infrastructural Applications

Soltan, D.G.; Ranade, R.; Li, V.C.

Full Article:

Taking cues from nature’s nacre material, several composite design features have been identified as promoting strength and ductility in an otherwise brittle system. These features are to be adapted to, and evaluated for feasibility on, a scale, and with processing routes, applicable to civil infrastructure in an effort to improve the toughness (energy absorption) of cementitious composites. This study is an investigation of one of those features—the layered composite design—in the engineered cementitious composite (ECC) system. Several layering schemes feasible for an infrastructural material are tested in beam bending comparatively with the monolithic material. The goal is to improve energy absorption via enhancement of flexural strain capacity. The addition of intentionally weak interfaces via precast/cast-in-place hybrid layering gave a 62% increase in average inelastic flexural toughness. Increasing the number of these interfaces and adding an interfacial waviness mimicking another element of nacre’s composite design improved performance by 140% over the monolithic material by the same metric. These results have implications for cementitious composite design philosophy. Enhancing ductility via layering can improve beam member performance by maximizing energy absorption and thus improving durability and safety. This investigation represents the first module of a cumulative and comprehensive material development of a nacre-inspired, cementitious composite design aimed at optimizing strength, ductility, and toughness.

Taking cues from nature’s nacre material, several composite design features have been identified as promoting strength and ductility in an otherwise brittle system. These features are to be adapted to, and evaluated for feasibility on, a scale, and with processing routes, applicable to civil infrastructure in an effort to improve the toughness (energy absorption) of cementitious composites. This study is an investigation of one of those features—the layered composite design—in the engineered cementitious composite (ECC) system. Several layering schemes feasible for an infrastructural material are tested in beam bending comparatively with the monolithic material. The goal is to improve energy absorption via enhancement of flexural strain capacity. The addition of intentionally weak interfaces via precast/cast-in-place hybrid layering gave a 62% increase in average inelastic flexural toughness. Increasing the number of these interfaces and adding an interfacial waviness mimicking another element of nacre’s composite design improved performance by 140% over the monolithic material by the same metric. These results have implications for cementitious composite design philosophy. Enhancing ductility via layering can improve beam member performance by maximizing energy absorption and thus improving durability and safety. This investigation represents the first module of a cumulative and comprehensive material development of a nacre-inspired, cementitious composite design aimed at optimizing strength, ductility, and toughness.

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DOI: 10.5151/matsci-mmfgm-014-f

Referências bibliográficas

• [1] 1. Advances in Cement-Based Materials, Proc., Int’l Conference on Advanced Concrete Materials, Stellenbosch, S. Africa, (Nov. 2009), 21-28.
• [2] 2. V.C. Li, On Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC), Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology, Vol. 1, No. 3 (2003) 215-230
• [3] 3. F. Barthelat, and H.D. Espinosa, An investigation of deformation and fracture of nacre—mother of pearl, Exp. Mech. (2007) 47:311-324
• [4] 4. J. Benyus, Biomimicry and the quest to solve global challenges, 13th annual Peter M. Wege Lecture on Sustainability, Ann Arbor, MI (Mar. 2014)
• [5] 5. F. Barthelat, J.E. Rim, and H.D. Espinosa, A review of the structure and mechanical properties of mollusk shells—perspectives on synthetic biomimetic materials, Applied Scanning Probe Methods XIII, Springer (2009) 17-44
• [6] 6. R. Ranade, V.C. Li, M.D. Stults, W.F. Heard, and T.S. Rushing, Composite Properties of High-Strength, High-Ductility Concrete, ACI Materials Journal, Vol. 110, Issue 4, (2013) 413-422

Como citar:

Soltan, D.G.; Ranade, R.; Li, V.C.; "A Bio-inspired Cementitious Composite for High Energy Absorption in Infrastructural Applications", p-1-4. In: Proceedings of the 13th International Symposium on Multiscale, Multifunctional and Functionally Graded Materials [=Blucher Material Science Proceedings, v.1, n.1]. São Paulo: Blucher, 2014.
ISSN 23589337, DOI 10.5151/matsci-mmfgm-014-f