SELF HEALING BENDABLE

CONCRETE
AJEET PRATAP SINGH
SR NO.- 52/15
INRODUCTION

 Bendable concrete also known as Engineered Cementitious

Composites abbreviated as ECC.
 Conventional concretes are almost unbendable and have a
strain capacity of only 0.1% making them highly brittle and
rigid.
 This material is capable to exhibit considerably enhanced
flexibility, Hence it is also called flexible concrete.
 A bendable concrete is reinforced with micromechanically
designed polymer fibres.
 ECC is made from the same basic ingredients as
conventional concrete but with the addition of
High-Range Water Reducing (HRWR) agent as it is
required to impart good workability.
 However, coarse aggregates are not used in ECCs
(hence it is a mortar rather than concrete).
 Cementitious materials, such as fly ash, silica
fume, blast furnace slag, etc., may be used in
addition to cement for increasing the paste
content.
 Typically, ECC uses 2% by volume of short,
discontinuous fibres.
 ECC incorporates super fine silica sand and tiny
Polyvinyl Alcohol-fibres covered with a very thin
(nano meter thick), slick coating.
 This surface coating allows the fibre to begin
slipping when they are over loaded so they are not
fracturing.
 ECC deforms much more than a normal concrete
but without fracturing. Fig. shows the behaviour of
ECC under flexural loading and it can be seen that
the beam can deform well without direct failure.
 ECC has proved to be 50 times more flexible than
traditional concrete, and 40 times lighter.
4-POINT LOAD TEST

4- POINT LOAD TEST

SCOPE AND BACKGROUND

 Since ECC are more flexible than traditional concrete, it acts

more like metal than glass. Traditional concrete is considered
to be a ceramic, brittle and rigid.
 It can suffer catastrophic failure when strained in an
earthquake or by routine overuse.
 ECC remains intact and safe to use at tensile strains up to 5%.
Traditional concrete fractures and can’t carry a load at 0.01
% tensile strain.
 It is studded with specially-coated reinforcing fibres that hold
it together.
SELF HEALING PROPERTY

 In recent times, builders reinforce concrete

structures with steel bars in order to keep cracks as
small as possible. But they’re not small enough to
heal. So, water and deciding salts can penetrate
till steel, causing corrosion that further weakens the
structure. Li’s self -healing concrete needs no steel
reinforcement to keep crack width tight, thereby
eliminating corrosion.
 In ECC the microcracks are filled due to self
healing property of cement composites. Thus, the
by-products of hydration fill the gaps in these tiny
cracks.
INGREDIENTS OF BENDABLE CONCRETE

Engineered cementitious composite is a composition of

cement, sand, fly ash, water, small amount of admixtures and
an optimal amount of fibres. In the mix, coarse aggregates are
deliberately not used because property of ECC Concrete is
formation of micro cracks with large deflection. Coarse
aggregates increase crack width, which is contradictory to the
property of ECC Concrete.
CEMENT

Cement used is Ordinary Portland cement. Numerous organic

compounds which are used for adhering or fastening materials
are called cements. But, these are classified as adhesives, and
the term cement alone means a construction material. Blast
furnace slag may also be used in some cements and the
cement is called Portland slag cement (PSC). The colour of the
cement is due mainly to iron oxide. In the absence of
impurities, the colour would be white. Ordinary Portland cement
(OPC) 53 grade (Ultratech Cement) is normally used.
SAND [FINE AGGREGATE]

 Fine aggregate / natural sand is an accumulation of grains of

mineral matter derived from the disintegration of rocks. Sands
that have been sorted out and separated from the organic
material by the action of currents of water or by winds across
arid lands are generally quite uniform in size of grains.
 The most commercially used are silica sands, often above
98% pure. The fine silica sand is suitable for the flexible
concrete which is used in the water treatment plant but if it is
not available the normal sand can be used but it may effects
the strength and flexibility of concrete.
“
”

Silica sand & Silica sand close-up

FLY ASH

 Use of fly ash has been successful in reducing heat

generation without loss of strength, increasing
ultimate strength beyond 180 days , and providing
additional fines for compaction.
 One of principal function of a fly ash is to occupy
void space which would otherwise be occupied by
cement or water. Occupation of void space with
water would obviously result in reduction in concrete
strength.
 The huge amount of fly ash is produced in the
thermal power stations.
PVA FIBRE REINFORCEMENT

 PVA fibre has suitable characteristics as reinforcing materials

for cementitious composites.
 High modulus of elasticity, durability, tensile strength and
bonding strength with concrete matrix are some of its
desirable properties.
 PVA fibre has high strength and modulus of elasticity (25 to
40GPa) compared to other general organic fibre which are
widely used for cement reinforcing. Fibre elongation is about
6-10%. The tensile strength of fibre is between 880MPa to
1600MPa.
 Some fibres are silica fibres, glass fibres, steel fibres, asbestos
fibres , polyvinyl alcohol fibres , etc.
Different type of reinforcement
material
Slick coating (anti-friction coating)

 Additionally the slick coating (anti-frictional coating) is

provided so that the fibres particles can slide over one
another and does not have the friction which may result into
the cracks in concrete.
 This tendency of slipping of fibres over one another helps the
concrete to minimize the crack and provide flexibility to the
concrete. The normal cement can be used for the concrete.
SUPER PLASTICIZER

 Super plasticizer used is Melamine Formaldehyde

sulphonate. This is the best super plasticizer.
 Super plasticizers are additives to fresh concrete which help
in dispersing the cement uniformly in the mix.
 This is achieved by their deflocculating action on cement
agglomerates by which water entrapped in the groups of
cement grains is released and it is available for workability.
 They can reduce water up to 15-20% and hence decrease
W/C ratio by same amount. This results in increase in strength
and other properties like density, water tightness.
WATER

 Water fit for drinking is generally considered fit for making

concrete.
 Water should be free from acids, oils, alkalis, vegetables or
other organic Impurities.
 Water has two functions in a concrete mix. Firstly, it reacts
chemically with the cement to form a cement paste in which
the inert aggregates are held in suspension until the cement
paste has hardened.
 Secondly, it serves as a vehicle or lubricant in the mixture of
fine aggregates and cement.
MIX DESIGN

 The mix design for ECC Concrete is basically based on

Micromechanics design basis.
 Micromechanics is a branch of mechanics applied at the
material constituent level that captures the mechanical
interactions among the fibre, mortar matrix, and fibre matrix
interface.
 Typically, fibres are of the order of milli meters in length and
tens of microns in diameter, and they may have a surface
coating on the nanometer scale.
PROPORTION OF ECC

Mix Cement Fly Ash Water Sand HRWR* Fiber(Vol %)

Designation
M45 1.0 1.2 0.56 0.8 0.012 0.02
CASTING PROCEDURE OF ECC-
CONCRETE
 A proper and good practice of mixing can lead to better
performance and quality of the ECC Concrete and
better bonding of cement with the PVA fibres.
 The mixing of ECC Concrete is carried out by using hand
mixing.
 The procedure of hand mixing is as follows:- Add sand,
cement, 50% of fly ash and 50% water and super plasticizer.
Add slowly remaining quantity of fly ash, water and
super plasticizer.
 Once the homogenous mixture is formed, add the PVA fibres
slowly. Mix all the constituents till the fibres are
homogenously mixed in the matrix.
PLACING AND COMPACTION 0F ECC
MIXES

 Before placing of concrete, the concrete mould must be

oiled for the ease of removing.
 During the placing of fresh concrete into the moulds, tamping
is done using Tamping rod in order to reduce the
honeycombing.
 After placing the concrete into the moulds, vibrations are
done using a table vibrator. The vibration of concrete allows
full compaction of the fresh concrete to release any
entrained air voids contained in the concrete.
 If the concrete are not compacted to a proper manner, the
maximum strength of the concrete cannot be achieved.
CURING OF CONCRETE SPECIMEN

 After 24 hours of placing, all the concrete specimens were

placed into the curing tank with a controlled temperature of
25 C in further for 28 days for the hardened properties test of
concrete.
 Curing is an important process to prevent the concrete
specimens from losing of moisture while it is gaining its
required strength.
 After 28 days of curing, the concrete specimens are
removed from the curing tank to conduct hardened
properties test of ECC Concrete.
ADVANTAGES OF ECC

 The flexible concrete has the ability to bend like a metal.

 It is more Stronger, more durable, and lasts longer than
conventional concrete.
 It has a self-healing property that is it can heal itself by using
carbon dioxide and rainwater.
 It is not brittle like a glass.
 It is more resistant to cracking.
 It does not emit that amount of harmful gases as compared
to conventional concrete.
 The flexible concrete is approx. 20-40 percent lighter.
 The use of steel reinforcement is reduces and can be
eliminated.
 It reduces the cost of the project.
 It can be used as precast concrete.
DISADVANTAGES OF ECC

 It has a high initial cost as compared to conventional

concrete.
 It requires skilled labour for its construction.
 It needs some special type of materials which can be difficult
to find in some areas.
 Its quality depend upon the material used and the condition
under which it is made.
 Its compressive strength can be lesser than the conventional
concrete.
SPECIAL FEATURES OF ECC

 The bending strength or tensile capacity of flexible concrete

is in the range of 10 to 15 MPa and compressive strength is up
to 70 MPa.
 It has a self-healing property as the cement particles make
reaction with the rain water and makes some complex
product that expands and fill the microcracks that are
developed in the flexible concrete.
 The flexible concrete is proved to be lighter and also proved
to be 500 times more flexible than normal concrete.
 Its ultimate tensile strain capacity is 3 to 5 %.
 The strain capacity in flexible concrete is 300 times more
than conventional concrete.
USES OF ECC

 Earthquake resistance building:

The structure made with the
flexible concrete can take more
tensile stresses that it does not
break down due to the vibration
caused by the earthquake. In
Japan a 60 floor is under
construction which uses this
concrete.
 CONCRETE CANVAS: THE CONCRETE
CANVAS CAN ALSO BE MADE WITH
THE FLEXIBLE CONCRETE. THE
CONCRETE CANVAS IS STRONGER
AND DURABLE THAN THE NORMAL
CANVAS. IT CAN BE USED IN THE
MILITARY AREA.
 FOR ROADS & BRIDGES: IT CAN BE
USED IN ROADS AND BRIDGES. WITH
THE USE OF FLEXIBLE CONCRETE IN
ROADS AND BRIDGES THERE IS NO
NEED OF JOINTS SUCH AS
EXPANSION JOINT, CONTRACTION
JOINT AS THE CONCRETE IS ITSELF
HAVE THE ABILITY TO CHANGE ITS
SHAPE. MOREOVER THE BRIDGES
AND ROADS ARE MORE DURABLE
AND HAS LOW REPAIR COST.