Frost resistance and microstructure of Engineered Cementitious Composites: Influence of fly ash and micro poly-vinyl-alcohol fiber

One of the most damaging environmental conditions to concrete structure is cyclic freezing and thawing. This paper discusses the influence of the high volumes of fly ash (FA) and micro poly-vinyl-alcohol (PVA) fibers on the cyclic freeze–thaw resistance and microstructure of the Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC). ECC mixtures with two different FA–cement (FA/C) ratios (1.2 and 2.2 by weight), and at constant water-cementitious materials (fly ash and cement) ratio of 0.27 are prepared. To compare the behavior of ECC with ECC matrix, all of the preceding properties are also investigated for ECC matrix mixtures of same composition without PVA fiber. For frost resistance, mixtures are exposed to the freeze and thaw cycles up to 300 cycles in accordance with ASTM C666, Procedure A. Experimental tests consist of measuring the residual mechanical properties (flexural strength, mid-span beam deflection and flexural stress – deflection curve), ultrasonic pulse velocity and mass loss. The roles of PVA fibers and FA are discussed through the analysis of microstructure and fiber–matrix interactions as function of frost exposure. The microstructural characterization by measuring pore size distributions is examined before and after exposure to frost deterioration by using mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP). The air-void characteristics of mixtures are also studied using linear transverse method. Test results confirm that both ECC mixtures with high volumes of FA remain durable, and show a tensile strain capacity of more than 2% even after 300 freezing and thawing cycles. On the other hand, before completing 300 freezing and thawing cycles, matrix (ECC without fiber) specimens have severely deteriorated, requiring removal from the freeze–thaw machine. Therefore, results indicate that the addition of micro PVA fiber to the ECC matrix substantially improved the frost resistance. The results of freeze–thaw tests also indicated that the reduction of residual physical and mechanical properties with increasing number of freeze–thaw cycles is relatively more for ECC mixture with FA/C ratio of 2.2 than for ECC mixture with FA/C ratio of 1.2.