Cement and Concrete Composites 88 (2018) 139e149

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Cement and Concrete Composites

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cemconcomp

Reinforcement effects of polyvinyl alcohol and polypropylene fibers on

flexural behaviors of sulfoaluminate cement matrices
Yuelin Li a, b, Wengui Li b, *, Dehua Deng a, Kejin Wang c, Wen Hui Duan d
a
School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410083, PR China
b
Center for Built Infrastructure Research, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
c
Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
d
Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia

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

Article history: The fracture behavior of unoiled/uncoated polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber reinforced sulphoaluminate
Received 15 October 2017 cement (SAC) matrices was experimentally investigated and compared with those of polypropylene (PP)
Received in revised form fiber reinforced SAC and PVA fiber reinforced Portland cement (PC) matrices in this study. In the
7 January 2018
experimental investigation, three-point bending tests were carried out for notched fiber reinforced
Accepted 8 February 2018
Available online 10 February 2018
cement beams. Special attentions were paid on their deflection-hardening and multiple crack patterns.
The different flexural behaviors between the plain SAC and PC matrices were evaluated using the double-
K fracture model. The results indicate that the PVA fiber reinforced SAC matrices exhibited better flexural
Keywords:
Sulfoaluminate cement
behaviors when compared with the PVA fiber reinforced PC matrix having comparable matrix strength.
Polyvinylalcohol (PVA) fiber The bond strength between SAC matrix and PVA fiber are relatively better than that between the
Polypropylene (PP) fiber counterpart PC matrix and PVA fiber, while the bond strength between SAC matrix and PVA fiber is
Flexural behaviors obviously stronger than that between the SAC and PP fibers.
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Various types of fibers are increasingly used in cement-based materials,
and produce fiber reinforced cementitious composites (FRCCs) which exhibit
significantly improved properties, such as enhanced ductility, strength and
energy absorption capacity. As a result, FRCCs and fiber reinforced ultra-high
performance concrete have been broadly used in hydraulic structures, tunnel
linings, highway airfield pavements repair, and earthquake resistant struc-
tures [1e5]. Fiber reinforcement mainly improves the post-cracking behavior
of its composites and leads to a more ductile behavior. In general, the fracture
behaviors of FRCCs under bending can be classified into two types according
to their post-cracking behaviors. The first one is the gradual decrease in load
bearing capacity, regardless of load increase after the first cracking. This
behavior is often seen in the FRCCs where the brittle cementitious matrix is
under-reinforced by fibers. The second one is the deflection-hardening
behavior where the post cracking strength goes beyond its initial crack
strength, accompanied by closely spaced multiple cracks. This behavior is
often observed in FRCCs where a brittle cementitious matrix is adequately
reinforced by fibers [6e10]. The parameters that influence the flexural and
fracture behaviors of such composites include: a) cementitious matrix
properties, such as strength, fracture toughness and elastic modulus; b)
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: wengui.li@uts.edu.au (W. Li).
matrix-fiber interface, such as bond strength, and c) fiber properties, such as
fiber type, geometry and strength [9,10]. Among these factors, matrix frac-
ture properties and matrix-fiber interface bonding properties play an
important role in achieving deflection-hardening behaviors. Previous studies
[9,11e16] demonstrated that the matrix with low initial crack strength is
desirable for deflection-hardening behavior, as the process of crack initiation
creates new fracture surface that contributes to energy dissipation. After
crack initiation, the fibers start to transfer the stress via their interface back
into the matrix. If bonds between the matrix and fibers are strong enough,
the matrix may produce more cracks again and develop multiple cracking.
However, an over strong bonding strength between the fiber and matrix may
cause fiber rupture rather than slippage after debonding and limit the
multiple cracking effects.
Sulfoaluminate cement (SAC) is an environmentally friendly building ma-
terial. When compared with Portland cement (PC), SAC consumes lower
embodied energy and evidently reduces CO2 emissions [17,18]. Unlike PC ma-
trix which gains its strength from the van der Waals forces of attraction be-
tween hydration products C-S-H gel [19], SAC gains strength from intergrowth
and interlaced network of the bundled needle shaped ettringite crystals
[20,21]. The mechanical interlocking of the interlaced needle shaped crystals
yields better resistance to crack propagation. This nature of SAC may benefit
fiber reinforcement in restraining crack propagation and dissipating fracture
energy in crack initiation process. In addition, SAC paste generally exhibits a
denser microstructure than PC paste. The dense microstructures and stiff
ettringite needles of SAC yield higher fiber-matrix bonding strength and larger

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2018.02.004
0958-9465/© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
140 Y. Li et al. / Cement and Concrete Composites 88 (2018) 139e149
debonding-shear stress resistance than those between PC and fiber [22].
Therefore, SAC is likely to be a promising alternative to PC for FRCCs matrix.
On the other hand, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber not only exhibits high
strength but also exhibits a strong bonding with cementitious matrix due to
its hydrophilic nature and interaction with cement matrix [23e26]. How-
ever, excessive chemical bond and (or) frictional bond between PVA fiber
and Portland cement hydrates tends to limit the multiple cracking effect (by
early fiber rupturing) and leads to lower ductility for the composites
[27e29]. Therefore, in order to reduce strong chemical interaction, some
researches tailored the interface by applying an oil coating on the hydro-
philic PVA fiber surface or substitution of cement with fly ash [27e31]. Due
to the fact that the hydrates of SAC are quite different from those of PC,
utilization of SAC as a binder could be also an effective way to tailor the
interface between fiber and cement matrix. In this study, unoiled/uncoated
PVA fiber was employed, in order to eliminate the influence of coating on
the interaction between PVA fiber and SAC paste and thereby to focus on
investigating the reinforcement effects of PVA fiber on SAC matrices.
Fewer studies on fiber reinforced SAC can be found in literature when
compared with fiber reinforced PC. Among available literatures, the majority
was reported on the glass fiber reinforced SAC, where SAC provides a less
alkaline and less aggressive environment for embedded glass fibers [32,33].
However, it is difficult to develop highly ductile FRCCs using glass fiber due to
the poor fiber-matrix bonding properties. The interfacial bonding properties
of three types of other fibers, PVA, PP, and steel fiber, in SAC matrix have been
recently studied using pull-out method [22] and the results indicate that
those fibers provide better bond properties with SAC matrix than with PC
matrix. However, the mechanical behaviors of the fiber reinforced SAC
composites at the structural level, such as the flexural behaviors of the PVA
fiber reinforced SAC matrices, have not been well investigated yet.
This study aims to investigate the flexural behaviors of PVA fiber rein-
forced SAC by using a three-point bending test on notched beams. It is to
characterize the deflection-hardening and multiple cracking behavior of the
fiber reinforced matrices. As matrix fracture properties play an important
role in performance of composites, the difference in fracture behaviors be-
tween the SAC and PC matrices are also investigated using the double-K
fracture model. To investigate effect of different fibers, especially the effect
of fiber-matrix bond properties, on the flexural behaviors of the cement
matrices, the flexural behaviors of PVA fiber reinforced PC and polypropylene
(PP) fiber reinforced SAC matrix were also carried out in this study.
2. Experimental program
2.1. Raw materials
The sulphoaluminate cement and Portland cement used in this experi-
ment were supplied by Henan Leiante cement Co., Ltd, China and China
Resources Cement Holdings Limited, respectively. Tables 1 and 2 show the
chemical compositions and physical properties of the SAC and PC used as raw
materials, respectively. Typical X-ray diffraction patterns of PC and SAC are
shown in Fig. 1. The PVA fibers and PP fiber were produced by Shanghai
Yingjia Industrial Development Co., Ltd, China and Changsha Huide Building
Materials Co., Ltd, China, respectively. The dimensional information and
mechanical properties of the fibers are listed in Table 3. Citric acid was used
Table 1
Chemical composition of SAC and PC (% by mass).
Cement type SiO2 CaO Al2O3 Fe2O3 MgO
SAC 7.7 49.3 30.3 2.66 2.44
PC 19.85 63.48 5.07 3.40 e 68.69
Table 2
Physical properties of SAC and PC matrices.
Cement type Specific area (m2/kg) Density (g/cm3) Water requirement of normal consistency (%)
SAC matrix 425 2.8 29.4
PC matrix 341 3.11 32.9
as a retarder in all SAC mixtures at a dosage of 0.2% by mass of cement. The
spread flow measurement of cement matrices was conducted as follow: the
prepared paste was casted into a conical mold (with the height of 40 mm, top
diameter of 65 mm, and bottom diameter of 75 mm); then the conical mold
was lifted up to let the paste flow freely for 30 s on the smooth plate; and the
fluidity was determined by measuring the diameters of the cement paste at
two vertical directions and the average value was recorded as the spread-
flow value of paste. The spread flow measurement results of SAC and PC
matrices are shown in Fig. 2. It can be found that both SAC and PC paste at w/c
ratio of 0.45 show satisfied stability and shape-holding capacity.
2.2. Beam specimen preparation
A cement paste mixer was used, and it consisted of an epicyclic type
stainless steel paddle imparting both planetary and revolving motion. It has
two speeds (140 ± 5 rpm and 285 þ 10 rpm), planetary motions of approxi-
mately 62 ± 5 rpm and 125 ± 10 rpm, respectively. The low speed mode was
adopted in this study, because the high speed mode caused fiber clustering
during mix process. To conduct mixing and casting, water and fiber were first
mixed for 1 min. Cement was then added, and the mixture was mixed for
another 3 min. Mix proportions are shown in Table 4. For each mix, three
prismatic beam specimens with a dimension of 30 mm  40 mm  160 mm
were prepared. The prism mold for specimen had a notch of 1 mm  10 mm
(width  depth) in the middle of each specimen respectively. The mixture was
placed into prism molds as one layer and cast in mold by using a wide scoop
without vibration. The cast samples were covered with plastic sheets to pre-
vent moisture loss, and they were demolded after 24 h and then air-cured at
24 ± 3  C at relative humidity of 90 ± 5% for 28 days before bending test.
2.3. Three-point bending test
Three-point bending test on the notched beams was carried out to inves-
tigate the flexural properties of plain cement matrix and the flexural behaviors
of fiber reinforced SAC and PC matrices. A landmark material testing system
(MTS) was used to conduct the test under a displacement control (loading rate
of 0.3 mm/min). As illustrated in Fig. 3, the tested specimen had a span-to-
depth ratio (S/W) of 4.0. A clip gauge was mounted at the bottom of the
specimen to measure the crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD). During
the flexural loading, the load-CMOD and load-deflection curves were recorded.
The deflection was the displacement at the point of loading of the beam, which
was obtained by the self-mounted crosshead displacement extensometers of
MTS machine.
2.3.1. Fracture properties of PC and SAC matrices
The fracture properties, including elastic modulus (Em), critical effective
crack length (ac), fracture toughness (Km) and crack tip toughness (Jtip), of the
SAC and PC matrices were also investigated using the three-point bending
notched beam test. In the consideration that cementitious matrix is not
perfectly brittle material, the double-K fracture model was adopted to
characterize the fracture toughness of the matrix, instead of linear-elastic
fracture method [34,35]. According to the double-K fracture model, the
fracture parameters, Em, Km (or KIC un ) and J , were calculated through the
tip
C3S C2S C3A C4AF

C4A3S
e 22.1 e e 60.3
5.08 7.67 10.34 e
Initial setting (min) Final setting (min) Flexural Compressive
strength strength
(MPa) (MPa)
1-day 7-day 1-day 7-day
7.0 20 6.4 7.6 38.7 49.1
198 229 6.6 10.3 34.1 64.4
 Y. Li et al. / Cement and Concrete Composites 88 (2018) 139e149 141

(2) Assessing critical effective crack length (ac); Assuming that the Em is
identical before and after crack initiation, the critical effective crack
length (ac) can be calculated from Eq. (1) by substituting the peak load
Pmax and its corresponding (CMOD)max into P and CMOD in Eq. (1),
respectively.
(3) Calculating the fracture toughness (Km) using Eq. (2).

3PS pffiffiffiffiffi
Km ¼ ac FðaÞ (2)
2w2 B

where F(a) is the geometry factor given by Eq. (3) with a ¼ ac =W:
 
1:99  að1  aÞ 2:15  3:94a þ 2:70a2
FðaÞ ¼ (3)
ð1 þ 2aÞð1  aÞ1:5

(4) Determining crack tip toughness Jtip using Eq. (4).

2
Km
Jtip ¼ (4)
Em

where Km and Em are the fracture toughness and elastic modulus of the
cement matrix, respectively [9,10].

2.3.2. Flexural behaviors of fiber reinforced matrices

Three-point bending tests on single edge notched fiber reinforced matrix
beams were also used to investigate the flexural properties of fiber reinforced
cement matrices. To evaluate the ductile fracture performance of the fiber
reinforced composites, J-integral was adopted and JIF values were calculated
for each specimen [36]. The JIF value refers to the J-integral value at the failure
crack localizing point, which is the safe boundary, and can be estimated by
using Eq. (5):

2U
J¼ (5)
BðW  aÞ

where U represents the total area under the load-deflection up to the peak
load before obvious load drop; B and W are the width and depth of the beam
specimen, respectively, and a is the crack depth.

3. Results and discussions

Fig. 1. Typical X-ray diffraction patterns of PC and SAC.
3.1. Flexural and fracture behavior of cement matrices
following steps:
3.1.1. Flexural behaviors of SAC and PC matrices
(1) Calculating Em from Eq. (1). The load P-CMOD curves of SAC matrix and PC matrix are shown in Fig. 4.
It is illustrated that the PC matrix exhibited a much larger linear portion and
( a much shorter non-liner portion in its load-CMOD curve when compared
6PSa0 a0  a 2 a 3
with the SAC matrix. The initial crack and peak point loads and corre-
Em ¼ 2 0:76  2:28 þ 3:87 0  2:04 0
W BCMOD W W W sponding CMODs of SAC and PC matrices are summarized in Table 5. It shall
) be noted that the first cracking point is defined as the point where nonlin-
0:66 earity in the load-deflection curve becomes obvious or the inclination of P-
þ 2 CMOD curve reduce significantly [37]. As shown in Table 5, for the raw
a0
1W
materials adopted in this study, both the load capacity and CMOD of SAC
(1) matrix are lower than those of PC matrix when at same w/c ratio of 0.45. On
the other hand, SAC matrix at w/c of 0.4 shows comparable load capacity or
where Em is the matrix elastic modulus, P is an arbitrary load level in the strength but significantly lower crack initiate strength when compared with
initial (linear) stage of the load-CMOD curve and CMOD is the corresponding that of PC matrix at w/c of 0.45. As shown in Fig. 4, although the two SAC
crack mouth opening displacement; S, B and W are the span, width and depth matrices show lower strength of crack initiation (shorter linear stage),
of the beam specimen, respectively, and a0 is the initial notch depth of obvious nonlinear behavior was found in its P-CMOD curves after the linear
10 mm. stage, which indicates that elastic-plastic stable crack propagation occurs

Table 3
Physical properties of PVA and PP fibers.

Fiber type Density (g/cm3) Tensile strength (MPa) Young's modulus (GPa) Diameter (mm) Length (mm)

PVA 1.3 1500 48 0.020 6.0

PP 0.9 400 3.5 0.040 6.0
142 Y. Li et al. / Cement and Concrete Composites 88 (2018) 139e149

Fig. 2. Spread flow measurement results of SAC and PC matrices.

Table 4
Mix proportions of fiber reinforced SAC and PC matrices.

Sample item Water Sulphoaluminate cement (SAC) Portland cement (PC) Fiber(by volume fraction)

45SAC 0.45 1.0 e 0% PVA

40SAC 0.40 1.0 e 0% PVA
45SAC3PVA 0.45 1.0 e 0.3% PVA
45SAC6PVA 0.45 1.0 e 0.6% PVA
45SAC9PVA 0.45 1.0 e 0.9% PVA
40SAC9PVA 0.40 1.0 e 0.9% PVA
45SAC9PP 0.45 1.0 e 0.9% PP
45PC 0.45 e 1.0 0% PVA
45PC9PVA 0.45 e 1.0 0.9% PVA

after crack initiation and better resistance to unstable crack extension of SAC
matrices. The more linear elastic behavior of PC matrix than that of SAC
matrix will be further studied later by the critical effective crack length (ac).

3.1.2. Fracture properties of cement matrices

In this study, the average Em, the critical effective crack length (ac) and Km
of each plain matrix were calculated using Eqs. (1)e(4). Fracture properties of
SAC and PC matrices are shown in Table 6. It shows that SAC matrix exhibits
higher fracture toughness compared to PC matrix. With the same water to
binder ratio, although SAC matrix at w/c ratio of 0.45 provides lower strength
than PC at the same w/c ratio, it can achieve slightly higher fracture tough-
ness than PC; with comparable matrix strength, SAC matrix at w/c ratio of 0.4
shows significantly higher fracture toughness than PC. The fracture behaviors
and fracture toughness of plain SAC and PC matrices are corresponding to
their different critical effective crack length (ac), as show in Table 6. The
critical effective crack length ac of PC matrix is 10.54 mm, which is very close
to the initial crack length (a0) of 10 mm. This means that rapidly unstable
crack propagation occurred after crack initiation. However, the critical
effective crack length (ac) of the SAC matrix is significantly longer than that of
PC matrix. For instance, the SAC matrix at w/c ratio of 0.45 exhibited a much
longer critical effective crack length of 13.17 mm, which clearly indicates that
stable crack propagation occurred about 3.0 mm prior to unstable failure.
Similar trend was also observed in SAC matrix with w/c ratio of 0.4. This
implies that the fracture toughness of cement matrix is greatly influenced by
the microstructure and hydration products of the matrix. For the SAC matrix,
the presence of the mechanical interlocking among interlaced needle shaped
crystals contributes to the increase of the resistance to crack unstable
propagation, due to friction induced between interlocked crystals as they
separate without breaking, resulting in higher fracture toughness. Moreover,
although the fracture toughness of SAC matrix at w/c ratio of 0.45
ð0:293MPa$m0:5 Þ is slightly higher than that of the counterpart PC matrix
ð0:283MPa$m0:5 Þ, the crack tip toughness Jtip of the SAC matrix is much lower
than that of PC matrix due to higher elastic modulus Em of SAC matrix. The
low Jtip implies low initial crack strength which is beneficial for pseudo
deflection-hardening behavior of the matrices [9e16].

3.2. Fracture behaviors of PVA fiber reinforced SAC matrices

3.2.1. Flexural behaviors

Fig. 3. Three-point bending test setup and notched beam. Fig. 5(a)e(c) show that the load-CMOD curves of SAC matrices containing,
 Y. Li et al. / Cement and Concrete Composites 88 (2018) 139e149 143

Fig. 4. P-CMOD curves of the three repeats of plain SAC and PC matrices.

Table 5
Cracking initiation and peak loads of SAC and PC matrices.

Cement matrices Initial cracking point Ultimate peak point

Load (kN) CMOD (mm) Deflection (mm) Load (kN) CMOD (mm) Deflection (mm)

45SAC 0.186 ± 0.015 0.007 ± 0.001 0.035 ± 0.003 0.218 ± 0.021 0.010 ± 0.01 0.042 ± 0.005
40SAC 0.213 ± 0.009 0.008 ± 0.001 0.049 ± 0.04 0.276 ± 0.011 0.013 ± 0.001 0.063 ± 0.002
45PC 0.275 ± 0.007 0.012 ± 0.001 0.065 ± 0.001 0.286 ± 0.025 0.013 ± 0.001 0.069 ± 0.001

Note: The numbers indicate average ± standard deviation.

Table 6
Fracture properties of plain SAC and PC matrices.
pffiffiffiffiffi
Cement matrices Elastic modulus, Em (GPa) Critical effective crack length, ac (mm) Fracture toughness, Km (MPa m) Crack tip toughness, Jtip (J/m2)

45SAC 11.8 ± 0.6 13.17 ± 0.31 0.293 ± 0.009 7.27 ± 0.21

40SAC 11.1 ± 0.8 13.87 ± 0.81 0.372 ± 0.018 12.47 ± 0.26
45PC 8.8 ± 0.5 10.54 ± 0.53 0.283 ± 0.013 9.10 ± 0.19

Note: The numbers indicate average ± standard deviation.

0.3%, 0.6% and 0.9%PVA fiber (by volume). It should be noted that the first crack
point of composite in this study are defined as the point where nonlinearity in
the P-CMOD curve becomes obvious or the inclination of the curve reduces
significantly [38]. It can be seen clearly from Fig. 5(a) that the SAC composite
with 0.3%PVA fiber reinforcement showed little deflection-hardening
behavior, as a suddenly load drop occurred after the first crack. The
deflection-hardening behavior of the SAC matrix became clear and enhanced
when the PVA fiber dosage exceeded 0.6%, where an immediate load drop after
first crack was prevented. The features of flexural properties of fiber reinforced
cement matrices are summarized in Table 7. It can be observed that at the initial
cracking stage, the initial crack load and deflection ascended with increased
PVA fiber content in the SAC composite, which suggests improved strength and
ductility. In addition, ultimate flexural strength also increased significantly.
After the matrix cracked, the fibers bridged microcracks in the cement matrix.
As the load increased, the fibers carried and transferred the load to the cement
matrix, which resulted in deformation-hardening and improved the ductility
and toughness of the cement matrices. Fig. 5(a)to (c) also suggests that a
minimum amount of fibers (0.6%) might be required for achieving the
deflection-hardening behaviors of SAC matrix.
3.2.2. Flexural failure
Research has concluded that for fiber reinforced matrices, two possibil-
ities exist after formation of the first transverse crack: strain softening and
localization characterized by continuous opening of the major crack due to
fiber pull-out (or fiber failure or both), and strain hardening characterized by
multiple cracking [39,40]. Fig. 5(a)e(c) show the cracking behavior of SAC
composites containing 0.3%, 0.6% and 0.9% (by volume) of PVA fibers. It is
found that although the ultimate load of the cement matrices was higher
144 Y. Li et al. / Cement and Concrete Composites 88 (2018) 139e149

Fig. 5. P-CMOD curves of fiber reinforced specimens for each mix proportions.

Table 7
Cracking initiation and peak loads of PVA reinforced SAC matrices.

Cement Matrices Initial cracking point Ultimate peak load

Load (kN) CMOD (mm) Deflection (mm) Load (kN) CMOD (mm) Deflection (mm)

45SAC 0.186 ± 0.015 0.007 ± 0.001 0.035 ± 0.003 0.218 ± 0.021 0.010 ± 0.01 0.042 ± 0.005
40SAC 0.213 ± 0.009 0.008 ± 0.001 0.049 ± 0.04 0.276 ± 0.011 0.013 ± 0.001 0.063 ± 0.002
45SAC3PVA 0.266 ± 0.012 0.016 ± 0.001 0.058 ± 0.002 0.250 ± 0.022 0.238 ± 0.038 0.284 ± 0.031
45SAC6PVA 0.328 ± 0.018 0.016 ± 0.002 0.071 ± 0.004 0.450 ± 0.029 0.300 ± 0.071 0.379 ± 0.032
45SAC9PVA 0.349 ± 0.021 0.018 ± 0.002 0.070 ± 0.002 0.714 ± 0.031 0.564 ± 0.082 0.684 ± 0.024
40SAC9PVA 0.383 ± 0.015 0.018 ± 0.001 0.072 ± 0.001 0.769 ± 0.018 0.362 ± 0.022 0.731 ± 0.013

Note: The numbers indicate average ± standard deviation.

 Y. Li et al. / Cement and Concrete Composites 88 (2018) 139e149
Fig. 6. Crack patterns of PVA and PP fibers reinforced SAC and PC matrices at final failure.
Table 8
Flexural properties of PVA and PP fibers reinforced SAC matrices.
SAC matrices Initial cracking point
Load (kN) CMOD (mm)
45SAC9PVA 0.349 ± 0.021 0.018 ± 0.002
45SAC9PP 0.192 ± 0.008 0.007 ± 0.001
Note: The numbers indicate average ± standard deviation.
than the first cracking load, a sudden load drop occurred after the appear-
ance of the first cracking in the SAC composite with 0.3% PVA fiber. From the
crack propagation behavior of the SAC composites, SAC with 0.3% PVA fiber
did not show multiple cracking behaviors and a nearly straight single crack
was observed, as shown in Fig. 6 (a). The absence of deflection-hardening
behavior and multiple cracks in this composite could be due to insufficient
amount of PVA fiber for supporting and bridging the extra load when the
microcracks initiated in matrix. This was confirmed by increasing the volume
fraction of PVA fiber above 0.3%. As PVA fiber dosage increased from 0.3%,
0.6%e0.9% by volume fraction, the crack propagation resistance of SAC
composite was improved significantly, and the cement matrices also showed
more and more multiple cracking behaviors, as shown in Fig. 6(b) and (c). In
addition, the SAC composites exhibited much higher flexural load capacity
and higher CMOD as fiber volume fraction increased. It can be concluded that
the increases in strength of the SAC composite are found to exhibit
approximately linear relationship with the amount of fiber dosage.
3.3. Effects of fiber types on cement matrices
3.3.1. Effects on flexural behaviors
The load-CMOD curves of PVA and PP fibers reinforced SAC matrices are
shown in Fig. 5(c) and (e) respectively, with a zoom-in curve of PP fibers
reinforced SAC matrices shown in the upper right corner of Fig. 5(e). It shows
145
Ultimate peak point
Deflection (mm) Load (kN) CMOD (mm) Deflection (mm)
0.070 ± 0.002 0.714 ± 0.031 0.564 ± 0.082 0.684 ± 0.024
0.049 ± 0.001 0.200 ± 0.009 0.010 ± 0.001 0.056 ± 0.002
the difference between 0.9% PVA fiber SAC composite and 0.9% PP fiber SAC
composites. Compared to the plain SAC matrix, the 0.9% PP fiber SAC matrix
exhibits almost the same peak load, but slightly improved ductility. However,
the 0.9% PVA fiber significantly increases both the peak load and ductility of
SAC matrix. For instance, the 0.9% PVA fiber reinforced SAC composite ex-
hibits roughly 3.5 times higher ultimate strength than that of 0.9% PP fiber
reinforced SAC composite. Therefore, with the same fiber diameter of 6 mm,
the PVA fiber is more effective than PP fiber to improve the both ultimate
strength and deflection hardening of SAC matrix [22]. The flexural properties
of PVA and PP fibers reinforced SAC and PC matrices at first crack and peak
loads are shown in Table 8. It shows that the SAC matrix containing 0.9% PP
fiber displays significantly lower strength and CMOD compared to the
counterpart incorporating 0.9% PVA fiber, which may be attributed to the
poor bonding between PP fiber and SAC matrix or its low strength compared
to that of PVA fiber.
3.3.2. Effect on flexural failures
According to Fig. 5(e), the 0.9% PP fiber reinforced SAC matrix
showed slightly increased load bearing capacity after the first cracking,
but after the peak point there is a sharp unloading stage, which indicates
the poor ductility and deflection-hardening behaviors. In contrary, the
PVA fiber reinforced SAC matrix exhibited much higher load capacity
after the first cracking, and the CMOD value of PVA fiber reinforced
composites at peak load was roughly 40 times higher than that of PP
146 Y. Li et al. / Cement and Concrete Composites 88 (2018) 139e149
Fig. 7. Fracture sections of PVA and PP fibers reinforced SAC and PC matrices.
Table 9
Flexural properties of PVA fiber reinforced SAC and PC matrices.
Cement matrices Initial cracking point
Load (kN) CMOD (mm)
45SAC9PVA 0.349 ± 0.021 0.018 ± 0.002
40SAC9PVA 0.383 ± 0.015 0.018 ± 0.001
45PC9PVA 0.37 ± 0.032 0.017 ± 0.001
Note: The numbers indicate average ± standard deviation.
fiber reinforced composites, indicating much better bridging effect.
Based on Fig. 7(a) and (b), it shows that PVA fiber showed better bond
than PP fiber in SAC composite. There are plenty of PVA fibers, which
were broken or ruptured during flexural loading, indicating that PVA
fiber strength contributed to the mechanical performance of the com-
posites. Differently, Fig. 7(b) shows that most PP fibers were pull out
from the SAC matrix and remained intact and smooth surfaces, thus
implying only the interfacial bonding strength governed the mechanical
performance of the composites and the PP fiber strength were not fully
utilized. Due to the hydrophilic nature of the PVA fiber [22,24], the
interfacial bonding between PVA fiber and SAC matrix is much higher
than that between PP fiber and SAC matrix. Due to the strong bond
properties between PVA fiber and SAC matrix, the flexural behaviors of
PVA fiber reinforced SAC matrix had been improved much more than
that of the PP fiber reinforced SAC matrix [41].
3.4. Effects of matrix on cement matrices
3.4.1. Effects on flexural behavior
The effect of PVA fiber on the initial crack strength, ultimate strength and
deflection hardening of SAC and PC matrices were also evaluated, as shown
in Fig. 5(c), (d) and (f) and Table 9. As mentioned earlier, plain PC matrix
exhibits higher initial crack strength and ultimate strength. The PC matrix
performs as a perfectly brittle material, where sudden brittle fracture occurs
after the linear stage and the crack begins to rapidly propagate. In contrast,
although SAC matrix showed lower strength of crack initiation (shorter linear
stage), obvious nonlinear behavior was found in its P-CMOD curves after the
linear stage, which indicates that elastic-plastic stable crack propagation
occurs after crack initiation and better resistance to unstable crack extension
Ultimate peak point
Deflection (mm) Load (kN) CMOD (mm) Deflection (mm)
0.070 ± 0.002 0.714 ± 0.031 0.564 ± 0.082 0.684 ± 0.024
0.072 ± 0.001 0.769 ± 0.018 0.362 ± 0.022 0.731 ± 0.013
0.066 ± 0.001 0.381 ± 0.041 0.351 ± 0.026 0.411 ± 0.031
of SAC matrix. However, when incorporating 0.9% PVA fiber, the PC matrix
presents slight increase in the initial crack strength but great reductions in
the ultimate strength and ductility compared with the SAC matrix. For
example, the ultimate strength of 0.9% PVA fiber reinforced SAC matrix at w/c
ratio of 0.45 exhibits 1.8 times higher ultimate load compared with that of
0.9% PVA fiber reinforced PC matrix with the same w/c ratio. With same PVA
fiber dosage, SAC matrix exhibited much higher load capacity than PC
composites, which indicates better bridging effect after matrix cracking in
SAC composites. Additionally, based on Fig. 7(a) and (c), plenty of PVA fibers
were broken or ruptured during flexural loading in both PVA fiber reinforced
SAC and PC matrices, indicating high interfacial bond in both matrices.
However, since unoiled/uncoated PVA fiber was employed in this study, the
inferior bridging effect of PVA fiber in PC matrix implies that comparatively
higher number of fibers ruptured earlier during fiber slippage due to
excessive chemical bond, which has been observed by previous studies
[27,30,31]. The better bridging effect of SAC matrix indicates that relatively
more PVA fibers survived and slipped in SAC matrix [27]. This will be further
characterized later by electron microscope (SEM) investigation. Moreover,
the SAC composites at w/c ratio of 0.4 showed higher first crack strength and
ultimate peak strength compared to the SAC composites at w/c ratio of 0.45.
Generally, high Jtip is an indication of low first-crack strength of the fiber
reinforced composites [42,43]. The higher first crack strength of SAC com-
posite with w/c ratio of 0.4 corresponds to its higher Jtip. The higher ultimate
peak strength of SAC composites at w/c of 0.4 could be attributed to lower w/
c ratio resulting in denser microstructure and thereby higher interfacial bond
properties between the fiber and surrounding matrix. However, the ductility
of the SAC matrix decreased slightly compared to that of SAC composites at
w/c ratio of 0.45, corresponding to significant reduction in CMOD and
deflection at peak load (see Table 9).
 Y. Li et al. / Cement and Concrete Composites 88 (2018) 139e149
Fig. 8. Microstructures of PVA fiber in SAC and PC matrices by SEM image.
3.4.2. Effects on flexural failures
Both 0.9% PVA fiber reinforced SAC and PC matrices exhibited improve-
ment in ductility and toughness, as shown in Fig. 6(c), (d) and (f). The PC
matrix with 0.9% PVA fiber exhibited a higher initial cracking strength but
presented a sudden load drop or unstable crack propagation after the first
cracking. This corresponds to a straight single crack vertically develops from
the notch tip until the final failure in the SAC matrix as shown in Fig. 6(f).
Conversely, 0.9% PVA fiber reinforced SAC matrix at the same w/c ratio of 0.45
exhibited substantial deflection-hardening and multiple cracking, as shown
in Fig. 6(c). The better multiple cracking of the SAC composites compared to
PC composites at the same w/c ratio could be partially owing to the lower
crack tip toughness Jtip of SAC at w/c of 0.45, as low Jtip is beneficial for pseudo
deflection-hardening and multiple cracking behaviors [9e16]. On the other
hand, the strength of SAC matrix at w/c ratio of 0.4 is comparable to that of PC
matrix at w/c of 0.45, but exhibits higher Jtip. The corresponding SAC matrix
with 0.9% PVA fiber also displays stronger multiple cracking effect and
deflection-hardening behaviors when compared with corresponding PC
matrix with same PVA fiber dosage, as shown in Fig. 5 (d) and (f) and Fig. 6(d)
and (f). Again, this implies better bridging effect after matrix cracking and
improvement in interfacial bonding properties when SAC matrix was
adopted.
3.4.3. Effects on microstructure
The PVA fiber-matrix interface and fiber surface texture were charac-
terized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) to evaluate the PVA fiber-
matrix bonding in SAC and PC matrices. The SEM images of the fiber-
matrix interface of 0.9% PVA reinforced SAC and PC matrices are shown in
Fig. 8. For the surface of pull-out PVA fiber tip in SAC matrix at w/c ratio of
0.45 as presented in Fig. 8(b), obvious grooves on the surface of pulled-out
147
fiber tip was observed, indicating strong frictional bond between the fiber
and SAC matrix. Besides, fiber diameter of the fiber tip in this paste seems
unchanged, indicating that few delamination damages occurred. This sug-
gests that, although frictional bond between the PVA fiber and SAC matrix
improved, the chemical bond should be decreased, resulted in less delami-
nation damage. Differently, it can be seen that, in the PC matrix, the pulled-
out PVA fiber tip showed severe delamination damage with obvious decrease
in diameter of fiber as shown in Fig. 8(f), which was commonly observed in
the case of unoiled/uncoated PVA fiber and believed to be attributed to the
excessive chemical and (or) frictional interfacial bond [27,30,31,44]. The
strong bond strength between PVA fiber and PC matrix resulted in delami-
nation damage during fiber slippage, as layers of the fiber were peeled off in
PC matrix. It can be seen that the delamination surface of PVA fiber in PC
matrix is relatively smooth and few matrix debris covered on the fiber sur-
face. This indicates that, after delamination damage, PVA fiber poorly adheres
to PC matrix and provides few bridging effect.
On the other hand, more obvious grooves can be found on the fiber
surface, which implies higher frictional bond in the SAC matrix with w/c ratio
of 0.4 as shown Fig. 8(c) and (d). This could be attributed to the denser
microstructure because of a lower w/c ratio. As a result, the pulled-out fiber
tip in this paste showed reduction in diameter compared to original fiber
diameter of 20 mm or abrasion damage also occurred, as shown in Fig. 8(d).
However, the abrasion damage PVA fiber in SAC matrix is quite different from
that in PC matrix. For PVA fiber in PC matrix, the layers of fiber are peeled off
during fiber debonding and slippage resulting in fiber early failure, due to
excessive chemical bond and frictional bond [27]. In contrast, for PVA fiber in
the SAC matrix the small ettringite needles only caused fibrils of PVA fiber
peeled off. As a result, PVA fiber tip in SAC matrix is still bonded to matrix by
strong frictional bond probably due to the presence of small ettringite
148 Y. Li et al. / Cement and Concrete Composites 88 (2018) 139e149
Fig. 9. Peak load and JIF value of fiber reinforced SAC and PC matrices.
needles and fiber early rupture was mitigated. Again, this suggests that SAC
matrix improved the frictional bond between SAC matrix and PVA fibers,
while reduced the chemical bond, and thereby more PVA fibers survived and
slipped. This could explain the better multiple cracking and deflection
hardening performance of PVA fiber reinforced SAC matrix when compared
with PVA fiber reinforced PC matrix. Moreover, the improved frictional bond
between PVA fiber in SAC matrix could be resulted from the presence of
ettringite crystals, as the narrow and straight grooves should be left by the
small ettringite needles during fiber slippage as show in Fig. 8(a)e(d), while
the reduced chemical bond could be owing to the ettringite crystals in SAC
matrix may less tend to chemically adsorbed on the PVA fiber surface
compared to C-S-H gel in PC matrix. However, a more quantitative study of
the fiber-matrix interfacial parameters including frictional and chemical
bond should be carried out in future, such as single fiber pull-out test, in
order to fully understand mechanisms of the interfacial bond between PVA
fiber and SAC matrix.
3.5. J-integral value of fibers reinforced cement matrices
The peak load and the JIF value of all fiber reinforced cement matrices are
shown in Fig. 9. Similar to the relationship between stress intensity factor K
and the unstable fracture toughness KIc un in double-K fracture model [34,35],
when the real-time J-integral value J > JIF , localized failure crack developed,
indicating unstable crack propagation [36]. A higher JIF value implies a higher
unstable fracture resistance of the material. From Fig. 9(a), it can be found that
when no fibers were incorporated, the SAC matrix at w/c of 0.45 had a
significantly lower JIF value (2.0 J/m2) than the PC matrix (3.4 J/m2), which is
owing to the lower strength of the SAC matrix. As observed from Fig. 9(b),
when fiber was incorporated into the SAC matrix, the peak load and JIF
increased with the amount of the PVA fiber content. For example, 0.9% PVA
fiber reinforced SAC composite at the w/c ratio of 0.45 exhibited 194 times
higher JIF and 3.3 times higher peak load than plain SAC matrix (with no fiber).
When 0.9% different types of PVA and PP fibers were incorporated into the SAC
matrix, it demonstrates that PVA fiber reinforced SAC matrix had much higher
JIF than PP fiber reinforced SAC matrix, as shown in Fig. 9(c). This may be
attributed to the low tensile strength and weak bond between PP fiber and SAC
matrix. At the same time, when compared with the plain SAC matrix, 0.9% PP
fiber lightly improved JIF of the matrix, but slightly reduced the peak load. This
may be due to the poor dispersion of PP fiber in SAC matrix. When 0.9% PVA
fibers were incorporated to different cement matrices (SAC and PC matrices), it
reveals that PVA fiber reinforced SAC matrix exhibited around as twice ulti-
mate peak load and 48 times JIF as PVA reinforced PC matrix as shown in
Fig. 9(d). This implies that the PVA fiber exhibited a better (frictional) bonding
strength within SAC matrix than with PC matrix, because the natures of
bonding mechanisms are different. That is, PVA fiber is more effective for
improving flexural behaviors of SAC matrix with respect to PC matrix.
4. Conclusions
The flexural behaviors of PVA and PP fibers reinforced SAC matrices were
experimentally investigated in this study. The following conclusions can be
drawn as follows:
(1) SAC matrix exhibited lower crack initiation strength and elastic-
plastic fracture failure behaviors, whereas PC matrix showed high
crack initiation strength but significant brittle fracture behavior. SAC
matrix demonstrated more stable flexural behaviors than PC matrix
with comparable strength of matrix.
(2) The PVA fiber substantially improved the flexural behaviors of SAC
matrix. The PVA fiber reinforced SAC matrix displayed much higher
flexural strength and JIF value than the plain SAC matrix. The
enhancement in flexural strength of SAC matrix was almost linearly
related to the dosage of PVA fiber. The deflection-hardening and
multiple cracking behaviors were achieved and JIF values increased
significantly in PVA fiber reinforced SAC matrix at fiber dosage equal
to or higher than 0.6%.
(3) For the same fiber content (9% by volume), PVA fiber achieved the SAC
matrix with much higher strength and ductility than the PP fiber. This
 Y. Li et al. / Cement and Concrete Composites 88 (2018) 139e149
was probably attributed to the high strength and improved frictional
bond of the PVA fiber with the SAC matrix. PP fiber exhibited only
minor improvement in flexural strength and ductility of the SAC
matrix, which is possibly due to its low fiber strength and weak bond
properties with SAC matrix.
(4) When 9% unoiled/uncoated PVA was incorporated into different
cement matrix, the PVA reinforced SAC matrix exhibited much higher
peak strength and JIF value than the PVA reinforced PC matrix at the
same w/c ratio or comparable matrix strength. This indicates that the
SAC matrix exhibited better bonding properties with unoiled/un-
coated PVA than the PC matrix, because of the enhancement in fric-
tional bond and decrease in chemical bond. As a result, early rupture
of the PVA fiber was mitigated.
(5) In order to investigate on the reinforcement effect of PVA fiber on SAC
matrix, no aggregate or supplementary cementitious materials
(SCMs) were incorporated in this study. However, the high cement
dosage could cause high cost of raw materials, high heat of hydration
and large shrinkage. Therefore, the flexural behaviors of PVA fiber
reinforced SAC composites, incorporating aggregates and mineral
admixtures are worth further investigations in the near future.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial grants from the Na-
tional Science Foundation of China (51478476, 51408210), and the Australian
Research Council (DE150101751, IH150100006). The authors are also grateful
for the financial supports from University of Technology Sydney Early Career
Researcher (PRO16-2467) and Blue Sky Research Scheme Grants (2232254),
Australia, as well as the National Engineering Laboratory for High-speed
Railway Construction, Central South University (HSR2017001), P.R.China.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data related to this article can be found at https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2018.02.004.
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