The application of fibers to reinforce cementitious materials is a well-known subject. At first, asbestos fibers are used in industrial process to produce fiber reinforced cement sheets. Thereafter, various types of synthetic fibers are produced and used as asbestos substitutes. The aim of the present work is to evaluate the effect of synthetic fibers on the flexural behavior of cementitious co...

This letter describes a newly discovered phenomenon: ductile fracture in cementitious materials. The brittle nature of materials such as concrete and ceramics has prompted the development of various approaches to enhance their fracture toughness. Fibre reinforcement has been the common focus in the toughening of the brittle materials. Two types of fracture have been observed to date in cementit...

With the ongoing sustainability movement, the incorporation of limestone powder in cementitious binders for concrete in the U.S. has become a subject of renewed interest. In addition to accelerating the early age hydration reactions of cementitious systems by providing additional surfaces for nucleation and growth of products, limestone powder is also intriguing based on its influence on low-te...

The binding phase of cementitious materials, calcium–silicate–hydrates, can be described as nanogranular and as an inorganic hydrogel. Similar to other hydrated “soft matter,” the water confined within the nanoto microscale pores of such cementitious materials plays a crucial role in the structure and properties of cement pastes. When compared to organic hydrogels, non-stoichiometric calcium–si...

The increasing demand on the resistance of civil engineering structures under accidental loadings has led to an evolution in research, shifting the focus from a structural design level towards solutions on material level. The development of new high performance cementitious composites has opened new possibilities concerning building materials. However, the available data on the dynamical behavi...

The ultimate tensile behaviour of fibre-reinforced cementitious composites is closely related to its failure mechanisms which in turn are dependent on reinforcement parameters such as fibre characteristics and the fibre/matrix interface properties. Based on the direct tensile tests of mortar specimens reinforced with various synthetic fibres, this paper attempts to explain such relationships an...

Despite reported synergies between alumina rich supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) and limestone, previous studies have focused on up to 5% limestone content. Slag hydration in the presence of 10% limestone is reported in this paper. Hydration was followed through chemical shrinkage, calorimetry, thermal analysis, electron microscopy and X-ray powder diffraction. The results show that ...

ID No:180 ABSTRACT In this paper aims a thorough characterization will be performed of the effects of crystalline admixtures, currently employed as porosity reducing admixtures, on the self-healing capacity of the cementitious composites, i.e. their capacity to completely or partially re-seal cracks and, in case, also exhibit recovery of mechanical properties.In this paper aims a thorough chara...