Construction and Building Materials 75 (2015) 176–188

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Construction and Building Materials

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Flexural behavior of engineered cementitious composite (ECC) slabs

with polyvinyl alcohol fibers
Shwan H. Said, Hashim Abdul Razak ⇑, Ismail Othman
StrucHMRS Group, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 KL, Malaysia

h i g h l i g h t s

 Study on compressive and flexural strength of engineered cementitious composites.

 For ECC mixes, when reinforcing index increases, the compressive strength decreases.
 PVA slabs did not attain the desired ductility due to rupture in PVA fibers.
 New definition as an extension to ASTM C 1018 was proposed for ECC PVA.
 Increase in residual strength factors indicates a higher amount of strength retained.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper investigates the effects of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers on the toughness, compressive and
Received 1 April 2014 flexural strength of engineered cementitious composite (ECC) cubes and slabs. The key parameter dis-
Received in revised form 8 August 2014 cussed in this study is the reinforcing index. To evaluate the strain-hardening behavior of ECC with dif-
Accepted 22 October 2014
ferent PVA fiber contents, tests were conducted in direct tension. Flexural toughness was also evaluated
Available online 27 November 2014
following ASTM C 1018 procedure and post-cracking strength technique (PCSm). Results showed that the
compressive strength decreases as the reinforcing index increases in a nonlinear trend. By increasing the
Keywords:
reinforcing index, the first crack load decreases and ultimate strength slightly increases. Furthermore, a
Engineered cementitious composite (ECC)
Polyvinyl alcohol fibers (PVA)
significant increase in the first crack strength was obtained by an excess value 1000 of the reinforcing
Fiber content index. There is a significant increase in the deflection at ultimate load and the deflection at failure as
Aspect ratio (A.R.) the reinforcing index increases in a linear manner. The strain-hardening and multiple cracking behavior
Reinforcing index (R.I.) were observed for slabs with reinforcing indices higher than 316 whereas the softening behavior was
Deflection at failure observed for lesser values. The ECC PVA slabs did not attain the desired ductility due to the rupture of
Toughness index PVA fibers. A significant increase has occurred to the toughness indices I20, I30 and I40 with the increase
Residual strength factor in reinforcing index. Moreover, the indices exceed the limitations considered. A new definition as an
Post-cracking strength
extension to the definition given in ASTM C 1018 was proposed for ECC PVA material according to the
ASTM C 1018
observed results. All the residual strength factors increased as the reinforcing index increases which indi-
cates a higher amount of strength retained. The PCS60 values increased with increase in the reinforcing
indices. Thus, the increase in PCS60 values indicates higher flexural performance, better ductility and
energy absorption capacity for slabs.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction quently, it became apparent that the steel fibers effectively

Since the 19th century, many attempts were made by research-
ers to incorporate steel fibers in concrete [1], such as iron wires,
granular iron wastes and annular steel fibers, in order to improve
concrete strength against cracks, fatigue, and shrinkage.
This prompted various researchers to carry out studies on steel
fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) in the early 70’s [2–5]. Subse-
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +60 3 79675233.
E-mail address: hashim@um.edu.my (H.A. Razak).
improve concrete ability to withstand flexure, tension, shear, abra-
sion, fatigue, freezing and thawing cycles, impact and cyclic load-
ing. Furthermore, steel fibers arrest the crack widths and prevent
propagation of cracks throughout the hardened concrete. In addi-
tion, steel fibers intrinsically increase the ductility of concrete
resulting in improved energy absorption characteristics, and
increase its ultimate tensile strain, as well as its fracture tensile
strain at failure. Unlike the conventional concrete, the softening
tail of the tensile stress–strain curve for steel fiber composites
descends gradually with no sudden drop in stresses after first

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.10.036
0950-0618/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 S.H. Said et al. / Construction and Building Materials 75 (2015) 176–188
cracking. The amount of tensile strain at failure will be of several
orders greater than the corresponding value as compared to the
conventional concrete.
Despite all the advantages of steel fibers stated above, the
designers of steel fiber composites have encountered a series of
problems which prevent them from preparing homogeneous and
rheological mixes. One of the problems faced is the difficulty in
preparing a steel fiber composite at higher fiber content i.e. 2%
and more, using higher aspect ratio of 100 or more, and using max-
imum size of coarse aggregate more than 5 mm [6]. This would
lead to the phenomenon of balling which causes irregular disper-
sion of fibers ultimately producing vulnerable and inhomogeneous
mix. Additionally, steel fibers possess a considerably high specific
gravity compared to other ingredients, which prevents the discrete
short steel fibers from dispersing equally throughout the mix.
Finally, the steel fibers in hardened composite stand the risk of cor-
rosion if the hardened concrete is exposed to saline or acidic envi-
ronment. Such corrosion leads to deterioration of SFRC strength
and toughness [7].
2. Engineered cementitious composite (ECC)
Engineered cementitious composite (ECC) or bendable concrete
or self-healing concrete, is a class of improved high performance
fiber reinforced cementitious composite (HPFRCC), was introduced
in the early 90’s, [8]. It is characterized by a tensile strain-hardening
and multiple-cracking behavior [9]. In contrast to conventional
concrete, ECC has a tensile strain capacity in the range of 3–7% com-
pared to a value of 0.01% for conventional concrete [10]. In order to
attain extremely high ductile ECC with addition of small fiber con-
tent of 2% or less, it is recommended to achieve the underlying prin-
ciples stated thus. Firstly, elimination of the usage of coarse
aggregates [11] and using fine silica sand with maximum particle
size of 200 lm [12] and secondly, adding discrete short fibers hav-
ing diameter of several tens of microns. Thus, filament polymeric
fibers are the most suitable fibers having such a diameter.
Micromechanical material design is the most convenient
approach employed to prepare high bendable composite. It is the
micromechanical model which is employed to describe the forma-
tion of synergistic mechanical interactions between fiber, matrix
and interface, as well as to optimize the microstructure of the com-
posite [13]. These properties allow ECC to withstand tensile flex-
ural and shear loads as well as to increase its ductility. The
tensile stress–strain curve is analogous to that of a ductile metal.
At compression behavior, and due to the absence of coarse aggre-
gates in ECC, the elastic modulus will be lesser than that of conven-
tional concrete resulting in more strain when it attains its
compressive strength. The softening tail of compressive stress–
strain curve will descend in a gradual manner more than conven-
tional concrete that is, less inclined achieving higher deformation.
The ductile behavior allows ECC to create numerous of closely
spaced microcracks with very specific width. Due to its micro-
cracking behavior, ECC is highly durable, that is, corrosion resis-
tance and resistance to the penetration of aggressive liquids [14].
ECC has the property of self-healing, whereby the unreacted
cementitious particles after cracking and exposed to hydration cre-
ate a cementitious product, which will extend and fill the cracks
having specific widths [15].
In the literature, prisms were commonly used in the tests to
evaluate the flexural behavior of fiber composite. In this study,
slabs were considered using ECC PVA material to investigate the
flexural behavior in different parameters such as slab strength at
first crack stage and post-cracking stage, slab deflection at first
crack stage, slab deflection at ultimate load stage and failure stage,
crack pattern and propagation, evaluation of toughness using
ASTM C 1018 and post-cracking strength technique (PCSm). Direct
177
tensile test was conducted on PVA mixtures to evaluate the strain-
hardening behavior with different reinforcing indices, to set the
cut-off point and specify the reinforcing index at which the ECC
is applicable, and to recognize the strain-hardening effect in both
direct tension and flexural tests and compare between them.
3. Review of past studies
Many research works have been conducted on fiber reinforced
cement composites FRCC and ECC. Li and Wang [16] conducted a
study to highlight the flexural behavior of ECC beams reinforced
with glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP). Results showed that
using the same reinforcement details, ECC beams demonstrate
increase in ductility, deformation, flexural strength, shear resis-
tance, and damage tolerance compared to high-strength concrete
(HSC) beams. In addition ECC beams without stirrups, exhibit higher
shear resistance than HSC beams having shear reinforcements.
Fischer and Li [17] conducted an experimental study on flexural
load–deflection behavior of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) rein-
forced ECC members under reversed cyclic loading conditions.
Results indicated that the interaction of elastic FRP reinforcement
and ECC with ductile behavior leads to nonlinear elastic behavior
of load–deflection curve. Furthermore, compatible deformation
between reinforcement and ECC results in high interfacial bond,
removal of interfacial bond stress, elimination of relative interfa-
cial slip and prohibiting the composite failure by bond splitting
and spalling of ECC cover. Finally, FRP reinforced ECC members
did not possess meaningful energy absorption capacity compared
with conventional steel reinforced members.
Neela [18] investigated the flexural behavior of ballast FRP bar
reinforced concrete members with polypropylene fibers (PP).
Results showed that the addition of PP fibers leads to an increase
in shear strength, toughness, and compressive strain. The results
also showed a reduction in compressive strength, deflection and
the ductility of PP reinforced slabs. The amount of energy absorp-
tion for concrete slabs reinforced with PP fibers is equal to that of
slabs without fibers.
Balaguru et al. [19] conducted an experimental study to evalu-
ate the flexural toughness of steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC).
Results showed that indices at higher deflection, such as I50 and I100
are good indicators and should be computed for the evaluation of
FRC. Hooked-end fibers with fiber content in the range of 0.385–
0.77% are adequate for presenting better toughness and ductility
whereas the length effect does not influence the toughness. In
order to improve the toughness in high strength concrete, higher
fiber content is therefore required. Also, 1.54% of steel fibers are
needed in mix containing 20% silica fume to obtain significant
ductility.
Long et al. [20] to investigated the effect of mix proportion on
flexural toughness of ECC with PVA fibers. The results indicated
that the increment in water reducer results in reduced flexural
capacity and toughness. Besides, the increase in fiber content
should be over 2% to develop a significant increase in flexural duc-
tility and toughness due to the bridging of cracks. Moreover, higher
amount of sand leads to reduced ductility and toughness. Thus, the
best ratio of sand to be used in ECC to obtain better flexural tough-
ness and ductility is 0.2.
4. Flexural toughness of ECC slabs
4.1. Toughness estimation based on ASTM C 1018
In order to estimate the flexural performance and the amount of
energy absorption of ECC slabs, an ASTM C 1018 [21] standard test
method to determine the toughness and toughness indices for FRC
178 S.H. Said et al. / Construction and Building Materials 75 (2015) 176–188
was followed. Some relative values called ‘‘toughness indices’’
express the flexural performance and indicate the degree of ductil-
ity and energy absorption capacity up to a specified value of deflec-
tion and the ability of ECC slabs to deflect freely without any
sudden failure. The evaluation of toughness indices depends on
knowing the first-crack load and first-crack deflection values
which necessitate determining them accurately on load–deflection
curve. According to ASTM C 1018 definition, toughness index is the
ratio of the area under load–deflection curve up to limited deflec-
tion value, to the area up to the deflection established at first crack
as indicated in the following expression.
Area under ðload—deflectionÞ curve up to limited deflection valve
IT ¼
Area under ðload—deflectionÞ curve up to first crack deflection d
If T = 5, the toughness index I5 is equal to the ratio of area under the
curve up to a deflection corresponding to three times the first crack
deflection (3d)to the area up to first crack deflection. Similarly, the
toughness indices I10 and I20 are calculated as the quotient of area
under the load–deflection curve up to5.5d and 10.5d to the area
up to the first crack deflection respectively. For brittle materials,
the toughness index equal to 1.
The size of area obtained under the load–deflection curve is a
direct measure of the flexural toughness and the ability of ECC slab
to absorb energy and to attain higher ductility. Thus, the higher
amount of toughness (or area under load–deflection curve), the
higher ductility and energy absorption capacity.
ASTM allows for the evaluation of toughness indices I30, I40 or
more corresponding to area up to deflections 15.5d, 20.5d or more
respectively. The higher the subscript T value of reinforcing index
for testing beam or slab sample, the higher the flexural toughness
and energy absorption capacity. The toughness index value IT is a
cumulative number of its predecessor one IS, where T > S, plus
the additional value determined from the area bounded between
the corresponding deflection values for IS and IT. For elastic-per-
fectly plastic materials, I5 = 5, I10 = 10, I20 = 20 and so on. In this
paper and according to the load–deflection results, it is convenient
to discuss the variation of toughness indices I5, I10, I20, I30 and I40.
Residual strength factor represents the amount of strength
retained at the post-cracking stage within a specific interval as a
percentage of the first crack strength. It is a measure to sustainabil-
ity of beam or slab within a specific loading stage. The general for-
mula for estimating the residual strength factor between two
indices IT and IS is as follows:
RS;T ¼ NðIT  IS Þ T > S
where N = 100/(T  S).
If S = 5 and T = 10 then N = 20 and R5,10 = 20(I10  I5).
If S = 10 and T = 20 then N = 10 and R10,20 = 10(I20  I10) and so
on.
For brittle materials, the residual strength factor equal zero.
However, for elastic-perfectly plastic materials, the R factors equal
100. In this paper, R5,10, R10,20, R20,30 and R30,40 were discussed and
considered according to the type of toughness indices considered.
4.2. Toughness estimation of ECC slabs based on post-cracking strength
(PCSm) technique
A technique was proposed by Banthia and Trottier [22] to esti-
mate the flexural toughness and energy absorption capacity was
applied in this work. In this methodology, locating the point where
first-crack occurs on load–deflection curve which leads to estima-
tion of human errors is unnecessary. However, this technique is
based on finding the point of peak load on the curve. For the com-
posites of strain hardening and multiple cracking characteristics
(as the majority of ECC testing slabs), the peak load point repre-
sents the capacity of hardened mortar before the fiber mechanism
action commence. At this point, the area under load–deflection
curve should be divided into two regions; the pre-peak region
which is specified before the peak load location and the post-peak
region which is specified after the peak load location as indicated
in Fig. 1. The toughness is evaluated by calculating the post-crack-
ing strength according to this technique from the following
formulae,
Apost;m  L
PCSm ¼
2
L
m
 dpeak bh
where L, b and h are the span length, width and height of the spec-
imen respectively; dpeak is the deflection value corresponding to the
peak load; and L/m is the deflection at which the post-cracking
strength value being calculated. The value of m is a variable integer
which depends on the application. The Apost,m can be accounted by
calculating the total area (Atotal,m) from point O until dpost = L/m
and subtracting Apre from it. The PCS value is a suitable indicator
by which the flexural toughness and ductility of the beam or slab
can be examined along the successive stages of post-cracking until
failure by calculating and observing the variations of PCS values. In
this paper, the PCS values are calculated and investigated for ECC
slabs at deflection L/60 to show the influence of the reinforcing
index on the variation of PCS60 values in ECC slabs.
5. Experimental program
This program consists of establishing a timber mold with the dimension of
590 mm  220 mm  25 mm to cast and prepare ECC slabs. To evaluate the com-
pressive strength for each slab, 4 cubes were cast with each slab having
100 mm  100 mm  100 mm as dimension. The ECC slabs were cured for 28 days
inside water basin at the lab’s temperature, whereas the ECC cubes were cured in
the same basin for 7 days.
The main parameters used with the ECC slabs and cubes are: fiber content (Vf %),
and reinforcing index (Vf ⁄ l/d). The mechanical properties of polymer fibers are
illustrated in Table 1.
As shown in Table 2, 10 ECC slabs with their corresponding cubes were cast and
prepared for testing using PVA RECS15 fibers based on two different aspect ratios
A.R. = 210 (length = 8 mm) and A.R. = 316 (length = 12 mm) respectively. With five
fiber contents Vf = 1%, 1.5%, 2%, 2.5%, 3% for each aspect ratio. The ECC mix ratios
and weight of ingredients per 1 m3 are illustrated in Table 3. The cement type used
was type I.Ordinary Portland cement (S.G. = 3.15), fine silica sand with maximum
size of particles equaling 200 lm (S.G. = 2.65), and fly ash type F (S.G. = 2.38) were
used. Binder is considered as the sum weight of cement and fly ash. The superplast-
icizer (water reducer agent) used was SikaÒViscoCreteÒ1600. For each mix, all dry
materials were mixed in a rotating mixer for 3 min then the water with SP were
added gradually and mixed for 5 min to attain an appropriate workability of 90–
150 mm, as shown in Fig. 2a. In addition, Fig. 2b shows the fresh mix of ECC.
The testing of ECC slabs was conducted at age of 28 days using – INSTRON – dis-
placement-controlled testing machine under third-point flexural loading with a dis-
placement rate up to 0.005 mm/s. The span of 540 mm for slab was equally divided
into 3 parts. A linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) was fixed at center of
Fig. 1. Evaluation of toughness by determining post-cracking strength.
 S.H. Said et al. / Construction and Building Materials 75 (2015) 176–188 179

Table 1
Mechanical properties of PVA fibers used in ECC specimens.

Type of Grade of Specific Length of fiber Diameter of fiber Aspect ratio (A.R.) Elongation Tensile strength Modulus of elasticity
fiber fiber gravity (mm) (lm) l/d (%) (MPa) (GPa)
PVA RECS15-8 1.3 8 38 210 7 1600 42
RECS15-12 1.3 12 38 316 7 1600 42

Table 2
Reinforcing indices for different PVA fiber content and aspect ratio.

Specimen Symbol Type Aspect ratio A.R. = l/d Fiber contenta Vf % Reinforcing index, R.I. = Vf ⁄ (l/d)
1 PVA1 1.0 210
2 PVA2 1.5 316
3 PVA3 RECS15-8 210 2.0 421
4 PVA4 2.5 527
5 PVA5 3.0 631
6 PVA6 1.0 316
7 PVA7 1.5 474
8 PVA8 RECS15-12 316 2.0 632
9 PVA9 2.5 790
10 PVA10 3.0 948
a
Determined by volume.

the span for each slab to measure the deflection. Each test was continued until the
load value descended below 25% of the ultimate value. Test results of load–deflec-
tion curves on ECC slabs are displayed in Figs. 3 and 4.
The testing of cubes for compressive strength was conducted at age of 7 days by
ELE compression machine with rate of loading equal to 2.4 kN/s. The results of com-
pressive strength are displayed in Table 4.
Direct tensile testing was conducted on PVA-ECC to evaluate the strain-harden-
ing behavior with different fiber contents. The I-shaped specimens were cast and
cured for 28 days and prepared for testing, as shown in Fig. 2c and d. The specimens
were tested using 100 kN capacity displacement-controlled universal testing
machine. The results of direct tensile tests for different fiber contents are illustrated
in Figs. 5 and 6.
6. Results and discussion
6.1. Compressive strength for ECC
The compressive strength results for ECC cubes are obtained at
age of 7 days as illustrated in Table 4. Each magnitude recorded in
this table is a mean of 4 cubes tested in ELE compressive test
machine.
The aspect ratio is defined as the ratio of fiber length to its
diameter. The value of aspect ratio of PVA fiber is highly influential
due to its tiny diameter and thus, high value of aspect ratio. In
order to account for the combined effect of fiber content and aspect
ratio of used fiber, a suitable parameter was considered called
‘‘reinforcing index’’ which is the product of fiber content by its
aspect ratio. For ECC PVA cubes, it can be observed from Fig. 7, as
the reinforcing index value increases, the compressive strength
gradually decreases. Thus, the relationship is nonlinear and almost
seems to be nonlinear. The losses in compressive strength values
are not significant about 15%.
The results according to the variation of reinforcing index val-
ues state a superior fitness of 3rd order polynomial equation with
significant correlation coefficient as indicated in Fig. 7.
6.2. ECC slabs
6.2.1. First crack load
First crack load results for ECC slabs are displayed in Fig. 8 it can
be noticed from the first crack strength results that as the reinforc-
ing index increases, the first crack load gradually decreases until
the reinforcing index value of 790. The decreasing tendency is
sharp and the reduction is nearly 0.1 kN per 100 of reinforcing
index which is significant. After exceeding the value 790 until
attaining the value of 948, the first crack load begins to increase.
The rate of increment is evident and more significant at reinforcing
index 948. This could be interpreted by increasing the reinforcing
index up to the range of 790, the fibers do not affect the first crack
strength, and thus, the compressive strength values of ECCs domi-
nate the trend of first crack strength values. However, by testing
ECC PVA slab having reinforcing index exceeding 790, The PVA
fibers will begin to take their role in affecting and dominating
the first crack strength especially by accessing higher value of rein-
forcing index almost 1000.
Again the regression analysis gives a linear fit with high value of
correlation coefficient until reinforcing index value of 790, as indi-
cated in Fig. 8.
6.2.2. Ultimate load at post-cracking
It can be recognized from Fig. 8, according to the linear fit of
ultimate load results at post-cracking stage for ECC PVA slabs,
the general trend of these results seems to be directly proportional
to reinforcing index value with a small rate of increment nearly
about 0.04 kN per 100 of reinforcing index. The results obtained
show a drop in the general trend of ultimate load at post-cracking
in two samples. This could be attributed to the degree of dispersion
of fibers. As the fiber content or aspect ratio increases, the fresh
matrix suffers a difficulty in dispersing the PVA fibers which in

Table 3
Mix proportion used in ECC specimens.

Cement C/C Sand S/C Fly ash FA/C Water W/B (SP/B)%
1 (820) 0.8 (656) 0.25 (205) 0.37 (379.25) 0.3–0.35 (3.075–3.588)

B – Binder i.e. cement and fly ash.

() – by weight in kg/m3.
180 S.H. Said et al. / Construction and Building Materials 75 (2015) 176–188

Fig. 2. (a) Slump test for ECC mix, (b) fresh ECC, (c) I-shaped tensile specimen after casting, and (d) I-shaped specimen under direct tensile loading.

1.6

1.2
PVA₁-1%
Axial load kN

0.8 PVA₂-1.5%

PVA₃-2%

0.4
PVA₄-2.5%

PVA₅-3%
0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Deflection at center mm

Fig. 3. Load–deflection relationship for PVA ECC slabs reinforced with PVA-RECS15-8 mm, A.R. = 210.

turn results in low workability and less homogeneity of matrix. Regarding Fig. 9, Results also indicate that the first three ECC
Increase in PVA fiber content results in undesirable orientation of PVA slabs of reinforcing indices 210 and 316, behave in a softening
fibers which leads to a slight increase in post cracking strength tail of load–deflection curve after the occurrence of first crack that
and occasionally, a drop in post cracking strength. is, the post cracking strength is less than its first crack load value.
 S.H. Said et al. / Construction and Building Materials 75 (2015) 176–188 181

1.6

1.2

Axial Load kN
PVA₆-1%

0.8 PVA₇-1.5%

PVA₈-2%

0.4
PVA₉-2.5%

PVA₁₀-3%
0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Deflection at Center mm

Fig. 4. Load–deflection relationship for PVA ECC slabs reinforced with PVA-RECS15-12 mm, A.R. = 316.

Table 4
Compressive and flexural testing values obtained for ECC cubes and slabs.

Symbol of Reinforcing Index Average compressive Max. axial load at Ultimate load at Deflection at first Deflection at Deflection at
specimen R.I. = Vf ⁄ (l/d) strength (MPa) first cracking (kN) post-cracking (kN) crack (mm) ultimate load (mm) failure (mm)
PVA1 210 62.98 1.384 1.222 0.387 3.15 8.67
PVA6 316 58.49 1.190 1.150 0.550 5.59 10.60
PVA2 316 54.56 1.148 1.068 0.637 4.89 10.58
PVA3 421 51.44 1.166 1.391 0.662 7.96 12.56
PVA7 474 50.94 1.147 1.377 0.698 3.70 13.35
PVA4 527 50.50 1.000 1.398 0.867 10.20 17.70
PVA5 631 50.20 0.974 1.420 0.950 8.50 18.50
PVA8 632 50.12 0.900 1.415 0.506 13.93 20.62
PVA9 790 48.03 0.754 1.334 0.850 11.00 18.90
PVA10 948 47.31 1.166 1.514 1.050 15.96 21.70

Eventually, a localization of first crack occurs. On the other hand,
the behavior of the rest of slabs is characterized by strain harden-
ing and multiple cracking features that is, they sustain an ultimate
load more than the first crack load and develop subsequent multi-
ple cracks due to the fiber mechanism-bridging action.
It can be observed from Fig. 10 that the ultimate load results at
post-cracking are highly scattered and the linear fit presents low
correlation coefficient.
6.2.3. First crack deflection
From Fig. 10, according to the linear fit of first crack deflection
results, it can be recognized that by increasing the reinforcing
index value, there is a slight increase in first crack deflection values
of ECC PVA slabs, and the increment rate is about 0.08 mm per 100
of reinforcing index. This result indicates that the ECC PVA material
tends to be more elastic with a slight decrease in modulus of elas-
ticity as the reinforcing index increases. Moreover, the linear fit for
first crack deflection results seems to be more suitable despite the
low correlation coefficient.
6.2.4. Deflection at ultimate load
For the ECC PVA slabs, as the reinforcing index increases, the
deflection value at ultimate load also increases as shown in
Fig. 10. In other words, the increase in reinforcing index provides
better ductility as well as improves ECC slabs ability to bend more
before failure. The regression analysis of deflection results at ulti-
mate load for ECC PVA slabs is set to be linear fit with a medium
correlation coefficient and increment rate of 1.64 mm for each
100 of reinforcing index which is able to improve the ductility of
ECC slabs to acceptable limits.
6.2.5. Deflection at failure
Deflection at failure value for each ECC slab was measured
according to the corresponding deflection value of 25% of ultimate
load at post-cracking specified at the descending part of load–
deflection curve. It can be noticed from Fig. 10 that the trend of
deflection at failure values is likely to be almost similar to the trend
of deflection values at ultimate load performing higher values. Fur-
thermore, the linear fit analysis for these results is found more
suitable. The increment rate determined from fit analysis is
1.87 mm per 100 of reinforcing index which is slightly more than
the increment rate of deflection at ultimate load, with better corre-
lation coefficient value.
6.2.6. Behavior of load–deflection curve and nature of cracks
For slab PVA1, PVA2 and PVA6 since the value of reinforcing index
is not sufficient to sustain higher loads at post-cracking stage, the
strain-hardening behavior cannot be recognized in these specimens
and the behavior of slabs seems to be within a narrow field with less
deflection at failure which denotes a limited ductility as well as less
capacity of energy absorption as shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 9. In addi-
tion, small numbers of cracks can be recognized in the middle third
of the slab after failure. Furthermore, few bridging of cracks could
be observed through the path of the load–deflection curve; after
the first crack, the curve descends gradually and softens due to
the widening and localization of initiating crack. Regarding the
rest of ECC PVA slabs and starting from the reinforcing index 421,
182 S.H. Said et al. / Construction and Building Materials 75 (2015) 176–188

Fig. 5. Direct tensile stress–strain relationship for ECC I-shaped samples reinforced with PVA RECS15-8 mm, A.R. = 210.

Fig. 6. Direct tensile stress–strain relationship for ECC I-shaped samples reinforced with PVA RECS15-12 mm, A.R. = 316.

strain-hardening and multiple cracking behaviors are observed. descending of load–deflection curve. This behavior characterized
Subsequent and successive bridging of cracks appear through the with relatively high deflection values at failure denotes high ductil-
path of load–deflection curve at post-cracking stage of loading pro- ity and high energy absorption capacity. Moreover, the bridging
cess, within the field starting from first crack point until the onset of action of PVA fibers will develop the ultimate strength of slab upon
 S.H. Said et al. / Construction and Building Materials 75 (2015) 176–188 183

70

60

Compressive strength MPa

50

40 Compressive
strength
30

20
Compressive strength y = -1E-07x3 + 0.0003x 2 - 0.172x + 88.499
10
R² = 0.9764
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Reinforcing index

Fig. 7. Effect of reinforcing index on compressive strength of ECC.

1.6

1.2
First y = -0.001x + 1.5791
Axial load kN

Crack R² = 0.9541

0.8 Ulmate y = 0.0004x + 1.1569

load R² = 0.5824

0.4

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Reinforcing index

Fig. 8. Effect of reinforcing index on first crack load and axial load.

85

65
Persentage of increment

45

Percentage increment of
Ultimate load over first crack
25 load

-15
210 316 316 421 474 526 631 632 789 947
Reinforcing index

Fig. 9. Increment of ultimate load over first crack load.

the first crack strength as shown in Fig. 9. However, the descending attain the desired ductility due to the rupture of PVA fibers at fail-
part of load–deflection curve shows a steep slope until failure. ure. To explain this behavior, it is convenient to know that the PVA
Despite the distinct behavior of ECC PVA slabs, the desired values fibers generate high chemical bond with cement hydrates. At fail-
of deflection were not achieved. Thus, the ECC PVA slabs did not ure, the PVA fibers will rupture instead of bond-slip failure (that
184 S.H. Said et al. / Construction and Building Materials 75 (2015) 176–188

25

20 Deflection at y = 0.0008x + 0.3047

Deflection at center mm
First crack R² = 0.6309

15
Deflection at y = 0.0164x - 0.1113
Ultimate load R² = 0.7368
10

Deflection at y = 0.0187x + 5.5451

5 failure R² = 0.8559

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Reinforcing index

Fig. 10. Effect of reinforcing index on deflection values.

Fig. 11. (a) Deformation of ECC slab under loading. Crack propagation for (b) PVA2 (A.R. = 210, Vf = 1.5%), (c) PVA5 (A.R. = 210, Vf = 3%), (d) PVA8 (A.R. = 316, Vf = 2%), (e) PVA9
(A.R. = 316, Vf = 2.5%), and (f) PVA10 (A.R. = 316, Vf = 3%).

is, pulling out of the fibers from their original positions in cement
mortar) [23,24]. Fig. 11 shows the shape of deformation under load
process and crack propagation for some ECC slabs after testing.
6.2.7. Direct tensile tests for ECC
Figs. 5 and 6 show the behavior of PVA mixtures with different
fiber contents under direct tension. Based on the basic definition
of HPFRCC and ECC, the strain-hardening behavior was recognized
and ECC should be considered for mixtures with PVA fiber content
equals to 2% or higher at A.R. = 316. Furthermore, the mixture with
PVA fiber content equals to 2.5% or higher at A.R. = 210 was consid-
ered as ECC. The cut-off point is set at reinforcing index of 527. From
the direct tensile and flexure tests, it can be observed that the
strain-hardening behavior of PVA-ECC in flexure was achieved at
1.5% fiber content or higher with A.R. = 316 which is different com-
pared to the behavior in direct tension as previously mentioned.
Similarly, the strain-hardening behavior in flexure was achieved
at 2% fiber content or higher with A.R. = 210 which is less than the
corresponding fiber content in the direct tensile testing. The cut-
off point in flexure is set at a reinforcing index equals to 421.
 S.H. Said et al. / Construction and Building Materials 75 (2015) 176–188 185

60

50 I₅ y = 0.0038x + 2.1162
R² = 0.7424

Toughness Index
40 I₁₀ y = 0.0084x + 4.2234
R² = 0.7328
I₂₀ y = 0.0179x + 8.5941
30
R² = 0.7531
I₃₀ y = 0.0291x + 11.707
20 R² = 0.8461
y = 0.0411x + 11.06
10 R² = 0.9352

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Reinforcing Index

Fig. 12. Effect of reinforcing index on toughness indices.

6.2.8. Determination of toughness indices for ECC PVA slabs based on
ASTM C 1018
As mentioned earlier, the toughness indices are relative indica-
tors to estimate the flexural performance and toughness character-
istics of beam or slab. These values represent the amount of
ductility as well as the size of energy absorbed by the beam or slab.
To estimate the toughness indices, the ASTM C 1018 method needs
to locate the first crack point which is not easy to obtain accurately.
The method stated in the ASTM C 1018 can only determine the
toughness indices I5, I10 and I20. From load–deflection relationship
for slabs, there is a possibility of determining I5, I10, I20, I30 and I40
due to high deflection results in ECC PVA slabs. The ASTM C 1018
allows for determination of indices higher than I20. It needs to
calculate the area under the load–deflection curve up to 3d, 5.5d,
10.5d and 20.5d respectively (d is the deflection value at first
crack).
The toughness indices are determined for all ECC PVA test slabs
and the results are plotted with the values of reinforcing indices as
shown in Fig. 12. Regarding this relation, all kinds of toughness
indices from I5 to I40 were analyzed. As shown in Fig. 12, increasing
the reinforcing indices resulted in increased toughness indices
where the most appropriate fit for values of indices was found to
be linear. The slope values of the fit lines increase gradually
through the values 0.38, 0.84, 1.79, 2.91 and 4.11 per 100 of rein-
forcing index through the indices I5, I10, I20, I30 and I40 respectively.
t For instance, as the reinforcing index for I5 increases, he rate of
increment for this index is very low which is likely to be a parallel
line to x-axis. The physical interpretation for this phenomenon is
that at the onset of post-cracking stage, at 3d, the mechanism of
fiber action has not been significantly activated yet and the cracks
have not been extensively propagated yet. Moreover, the flexural
toughness has not been performed yet and the desired ductility

G I
E
K
C

A
LOAD

B D F H J L
δ 3δ 5.5δ 10.5δ 15.5δ 20.5δ
DEFLECTION

Index Deflecon Values of toughness indices

Area basis designaon criterion Plain concrete Elasc- Observed
perfectly range for ECC
plasc material
OACD I5 3δ 1.0 5.0 1 to 6
OACEF I10 5.5δ 1.0 10.0 1 to 12
OACEGH I20 10.5δ 1.0 20.0 1 to 25
OACEGIJ I30 15.5δ 1.0 30.0 1 to 38
OACEGIKL I40 20.5δ 1.0 40.0 1 to 50

Fig. 13. Definition of toughness indices in ECC slabs in terms of first-crack deflection based on tests observations.
186 S.H. Said et al. / Construction and Building Materials 75 (2015) 176–188

160

140

residual strength factor R

R₅,₁₀ y = 0.0922x + 42.145
120 R² = 0.6724

100
R₁₀,₂₀ y = 0.0953x + 43.707
80 R² = 0.7598

60 R₂₀,₃₀ y = 0.1121x + 31.125

R² = 0.9025
40

20 R₃₀,₄₀ y = 0.1201x - 6.4696

R² = 0.7067
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Reinforcing index

Fig. 14. Effect of reinforcing index on residual strength factors.

has not been obtained yet. By proceeding with the loading stages
with higher values of deflection, the cracks begin to propagate
and the influence of crack-arrest mechanism of PVA fibers starts
to activate, that is, the fibers try to arrest the cracks and bridge
them. This influence appears more evidently in the slabs character-
ized with higher reinforcing indices especially in the advanced
stages of loading. At I10, the flexural toughness characteristics
and the energy absorption ability of ECC PVA slabs are somewhat
evident and would be more evident at higher indices (I20 and
higher) especially at higher value of reinforcing indices due to
the higher slope value of linear fits of toughness indices.
As displayed in Fig. 12, the toughness indices determined for
ECC PVA slabs with reinforcing indices higher than 632 exceed
the limitations which they are particularly assigned for ideal elas-
tic-perfectly plastic materials. However, the values determined
satisfy the definition stated in ASTM C 1018 of observed range of
toughness indices for fibrous concrete of indices I5, I10 and I20. In
this paper, a new definition to the ASTM C 1018 definition is stated
for ECC PVA material according to the observed results. The new
definition is similar to the ASTM C 1018 definition except that
there are additional observed ranges for I30 and I40 as shown in
Fig. 13. From the observed values, the unexpectedly high tough-
ness indices exceeding the upper bound values are attributed to
the low first crack load recorded at high reinforcing index slabs
resulting in reduced area under first-crack load–deflection curve.
6.2.9. Determination of residual strength factors for ECC PVA slabs
based on ASTM C 1018
As mentioned earlier, the residual strength factor is the amount
of strength retained in the beam or slab within a specific stage of
loading. The ASTM C 1018 accounts the residual strength factors
R5,10 and R10,20 between the toughness indices I5 and I10, I10 and
I20 respectively. This paper accounts the residual strengths R5,10,
are less than the other previous ones of residual factors and the
trend of fit line within a lower region. The physical interpretation
for this phenomenon is that the values of residual strength factor
R30,40 represent the retained strengths within the final, or semi-
final, region of loading process before failure at which the slab
has lost from its strength and it has been going to fail.
The residual strength factors for ECC PVA slabs with reinforcing
indices more than 632 have attained values more than 100. As
mentioned previously, the toughness indices for reinforcing indi-
ces more than 632 have jumped for values higher than their limi-
tations. The differences between toughness indices within this
range have attained higher levels which resulted in a residual
strength factor more than their limitation.
6.2.10. Determination of post-cracking strength values for ECC PVA
slabs based on PCSm technique
Post-cracking strength PCSm is a technique proposed by Banthia
and Trottier [22] for estimating the flexural toughness of beam or
slab. It is a distinct indicator to check the ductility and toughness
characteristics of specimen along the loading process. In this tech-
nique, limiting the first-crack point is not necessary as the technique
is based on finding the peak load point. However, the post-cracking
strengths in this study were determined for all tested ECC PVA slabs
at a specific deflection value L/m to show the effect of variation of
reinforcing indices on the PCS values. It can be deduced from the
observed testing results that the minimum value obtained for
deflection at failure is almost about L/60 (equal to 9 mm) which is
selected to be the common value at which the post-cracking
6
5
Post-cracking strength

R10,20, R20,30 and R30,40 between the toughness indices I5 and I10,
I10 and I20, I20 and I30, and finally I30 and I40 respectively. The resid- 4
PCS₆₀ MPa

ual strength factor is not a cumulative number for its predecessor,

as it is in toughness index; it presents a situation of retained 3
strength within the particular stage of loading. As can be shown
in Fig. 14, the residual strength results determined are highly scat- 2
PCS60
tered. The points of R5,10, R10,20 and R20,30 are clustered within a
small specific region whereas the points of R30,40 are clustered in L/60= 9mm
1
a lower region. In general, all the residual strength factors increase post-cracking strength y = 0.0034x + 2.2866
R² = 0.6471
as the reinforcing index increases which denotes a higher amount
0
of strength retained with increasing of reinforcing index. The 0 200 400 600 800 1000
regression analysis for all kinds of residual factors is found to be Reinforcing index
linear with medium values of correlation coefficient. The fit lines
for R5,10, R10,20 and R20,30 are mostly to be identical, the R30,40 values Fig. 15. Effect of reinforcing index at deflection L/60.
 S.H. Said et al. / Construction and Building Materials 75 (2015) 176–188
strengths are determined for all slabs. In Fig. 15, the results show
the relation between PCS60 and the reinforcing indices of ECC PVA
slabs. Generally, the trend of the points plotted denote that the
PCS60 values increase with increase in reinforcing indices, no limita-
tions are specified for this technique. The increase in PCS60 values
means higher flexural performance, better ductility and energy
absorption capacity for slabs which confirms the previous results
obtained from ASTM C 1018. The points displayed in Fig. 13 are
highly scattered and the regression analysis specifies the linear fit
as the best for this relationship. However, the correlation coefficient
was rather low.
7. Conclusions
According to the results obtained from the present study, the
following conclusions can be drawn;
Regarding the compressive strength results for ECC cubes at age
of 7 days, increasing the reinforcing index resulted in gradual
decrease in the compressive strength. Thus, the relationship almost
seems to be nonlinear. The losses in compressive strength values
are around 15%.
Based on the results of the first crack strength, the first crack
load gradually decreases until a reinforcing index value of 790 as
the reinforcing index value increased. As the value increased
towards 948, the first crack load begins to increase due to the influ-
ence of PVA fibers which affecting the first crack strength.
The ultimate load at post-cracking stage slightly increases with
increasing in reinforcing index. In addition, the results show a drop
in the ultimate load in two samples due to the difficulty of fibers
dispersion leading to a low rheology and workability.
As the reinforcing index increased, the deflection value at ulti-
mate load and the deflection value at failure also increased. The
increase in reinforcing index provides better flexural performance
and improves ECC slabs ability to bend more before failure.
The strain-hardening and multiple cracking behaviors cannot
be observed in the slabs with reinforcing indices equaling 316 or
less and softening behavior will initiate after the occurrence of first
crack due to insufficient value of reinforcing index to enhance the
slab resulting in less deflection at failure, limited ductility and
energy absorption capacity, limited number of cracks, localization
of initiating crack and few bridging of cracks observed through the
path of the load–deflection curve.
The strain-hardening and multiple cracking behaviors can be
recognized in the rest of slabs with reinforcing index equals to
421 (2%, A.R. = 210) or more due to the higher reinforcing index
resulting in higher ultimate load. Successive bridging of cracks
appears through the load–deflection curve, higher deflection at
failure value, higher ductility and energy absorption capacity.
The present conclusion disagrees with an experimental study done
on PVA fibers [20] which referred that the fiber content should be
over 2% to improve the flexural performance and ductility.
Even though there was a significant performance for ECC PVA
slabs, the slabs did not achieve the desired ductility due to the rup-
ture of PVA fibers at failure.
Direct tensile tests of PVA mixtures specify the cut-off point of
ECC based on the basic definition of ECC by evaluating the strain-
hardening behavior of PVA mixtures using different reinforcing
indices. It was shown from results that the cut-off point for ECC-
PVA is set at reinforcing index equals to 527.
The effect of reinforcing index in both direct tension I-shaped
PVA specimens and flexural PVA slabs has shown different behavior
of strain-hardening. Unlike the cut-off point in direct tension, the
cut-off point in flexure slabs is set at reinforcing index equals to 421.
The toughness indices I5, I10, I20, I30 and I40 analyzed in ECC PVA
slab results shows that they increase as the reinforcing index
increases. The fitting rate of increase also increases as the type of
187
toughness index varies from I5 to I40. In addition, the increase in
ductility, flexural toughness and energy absorption capacity would
be intrinsically activated starting from I20 and upwards especially
at higher values of reinforcing indices.
The toughness indices computed for ECC PVA slabs with rein-
forcing indices higher than 632, exceed the limitations which are
particularly allocated for elastic-perfectly plastic materials. How-
ever, the values computed satisfy the definition stated in ASTM C
1018 of observed range of toughness indices I5, I10 and I20 for
fibrous concrete.
A new definition is stated for ECC PVA material based on the
present results extends the ASTM C 1018 definition of fibrous
concrete.
All the residual strength factors increase as the reinforcing
index increases due to the higher amount of strength retained with
increasing of reinforcing index. Furthermore, the R30,40 values are
less than the other residual strength factors due to the loss of
ECC PVA slab strength through this kind of residual strength factor.
The residual strength factors for ECC PVA slabs with reinforcing
indices more than 632 have shown values more than 100 which
are assigned for elastic-perfectly plastic materials due to the higher
toughness indices exceeding the limitations for reinforcing indices
exceeding 632.
Based on the post-cracking strength technique, the PCS60 values
increase with increase in the reinforcing indices. The increase in
PCS60 values means higher flexural toughness, better ductility
and energy absorption capacity for slabs which approves the
results obtained from ASTM C 1018.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their sincere thanks to Uni-
versity of Malaya and the Ministry of Education, Malaysia for the
support given through research Grants PV079/2012A and UM.C/
625/1/HIR/MOHE/ENG/56 and also to the staff of the Concrete Lab-
oratory for rendering their assistance throughout the period of this
study.
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