Comparison of engineered cementitious composites and concrete for strengthening of concrete structural details using RBSM

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical simulation and subsequent comparison of strengthening performance of an ordinary concrete overlay and an overlay made of engineered cementitious composite (ECC) with polyvinyl alcohol fibers (PVA). The comparison is performed on an L-shaped joint when the overlay is placed on the outer surface so that the applied bending moment causes tension in the overlay. The nonlinear numerical analysis is based on the three-dimensional rigid-body-spring model (RBSM). The results show the beneficial effect of the PVA fibers within the ECC matrix when the damage is distributed evenly so that only thin microcracks open. The observation is easy to obtain when the RBSM is employed. On the contrary, the overlay made of ordinary concrete fails due to localization of the damage into a single crack. The applicability of the RBSM is discussed.