Ductility enhancement of high performance cementitious composites and structures

High performance cementitious composites (HP2C) are a new generation of fiber reinforced cementitious composites (FRCC) with substantial improvements in mechanical behavior. The most important development in these HP2C materials may be the nearly elasto-plastic ductile behavior, which allows safe exploitation of the tensile and shear capacity in structural elements. This thesis presents a comprehensive investigation into the ductility enhancement of HP2C structures. Beginning at the micromechanical level, sources of ductility are examined and micro-to-macro relations are derived from homogenization theory and fracture mechanics. These micro-to-macro relations form the basis for a novel 3-D two-phase material model, which captures macroscopically observed behavior. Currently existing models which describe the mechanical behavior of FRCC are often micromechanical in nature. However, this macroscopic approach permits one to model the mechanical behavior of HP2C in a continuous fashion, i.e. through the various states of cracking in HP2C, while capturing - through the two-phase composite structure of the model - the micromechanical sources of energy dissipation in the fiber reinforced composite.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2002

Author dc:creator

• Chuang, Eugene (Eugene Yu), 1975-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Franz-Josef Ulm.

• Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33272

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/33272