Hybrid Local Fibers for Enhancing the Mechanical Properties of Engineered Cementitious Composites

Engineered cementitious composites (ECCs) reinforced with imported polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) or polyethylene (PE) fibers exhibit high tensile deformability, but the fiber cost limits the wider application of ECCs. In this study, locally produced PVA and PE fibers were used to develop lower-cost ECC, and PVA-PE fiber hybridization was adopted to improve tensile deformability. Based on matrices with various fly ash volumes, the single-fiber pullout behavior was first investigated at the micromechanical level. The results showed that PVA and PE fibers failed mainly by rupture and pullout, respectively, and that the chemical bonding between PVA fibers and the surrounding matrix decreased with increasing fly ash volume. The effects of single-fiber addition and hybrid-fiber addition on the macromechanical properties of ECC were then examined. The results indicated that ECC reinforced with hybrid PVA-PE fibers exhibited enhanced tensile performance compared with ECC reinforced with either PVA or PE fibers alone, with an ultimate tensile strain exceeding 5.3%, an average crack width below 39 μm, and hybrid reinforcing effect coefficients of 1.17-1.30, indicating a positive hybrid effect. Overall, the lower-cost ECC incorporating hybrid local fibers developed in this study demonstrates promising tensile deformability and crack-control capacity.