ECC Concrete Project: Fly Ash, PVA Fibre and Mechanical Properties

This project investigates the use of Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC) concrete, focusing on the replacement of cement with fly ash and the addition of PVA fibres. The research aims to analyze the mechanical properties of the concrete mixture, including compressive strength, tensile strength, shrinkage behavior, creep, and workability, at different ratios of fly ash and PVA fibres. The project includes a detailed experimental methodology, outlining the materials, tests, and analysis to be conducted. The scope encompasses a feasibility study for using this new concrete in sidewalks, providing a comprehensive analysis of the results and a conclusion on the concrete strength and ductility of ECC at various ratios. The project timeline, budget, and supervisory details are also provided, alongside a list of references.

Abstract
Concrete is utilized each day in different ways and helps the functionality of a society. For instance, it
is used to set up structures such as schools, hospitals and bridges. Among all the man-made
materials, concrete is the highly used one. According to cement sustainability initiative, (2014),
about three tons are used yearly by each man, woman and child. Four key components of concrete
include cement, water, coarse aggregates such as gravel, limestone or granite and fine aggregates,
which include sand.
Addressing sustainability and environmental issues during production of concrete is vital. First,
replacing and reducing components of concrete is likely to yield positive results on the environment.
Additionally, reducing the use of natural materials by reducing the components will help to enhance
sustainability. Some key alternatives which can be used to replace some of the components include
industrial wastes such as fly ash, silica fumes or plasticizer.
An effort will be done to assess the chance of replacing and adding some of these waste materials
which is the fly ash that is going to replace the cement knowing that a PVA fibre is going to be added
to the patch to form the ECC.
Introduction
Different materials are mixed during the production of concrete which is widely used in construction.
Aggregates such as sand and gravel, water and sand are mixed to produce concrete. Concrete is
widely used due to its tough chemical and physical characteristics. According to The Freedonia
Group Inc. (2014), the demand of cement and concrete is able to grow by 9.3% each year with $21.1
billion being spend on concrete in 2017. This growth in demand is therefore forming the basis for
researchers to consider alternative to the concrete components.
Scientists and environmentalists are obsessed with coming up with an alternative material while
maintaining the strength of concrete. And surely, they are largely succeeded with finding sustainable
materials to replace these components. The Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC), also
called Strain Hardening Cement-based Composites (SHCC) or more popularly as
bendable concrete is a key product which has been produced by efforts carried in this field.
Bendable concrete is new concrete that has been used in different places in the world for example:
japan, Switzerland and Korea.
The new concrete has been developed to reduce the time needed for road works by more
than half. This innovation allows the creation of slim precast pavement slabs for rapid
installation, thus halving the time needed for road works and new pavements. It is also
more sustainable, requiring less maintenance.
Industrial are able to release wide varieties of waste aggregates such as fly ash, rubber and
leather. This research will analyse and discuss the use of fly ash in concrete industry. Fly ash
will be used to replace cement as a component in concrete. Additionally, the research will
look at the effects of PVA fibres on ECC.
The research will be divided in different chapters. The fist one will deal with introduction the
topic and tackle reasons for choosing it and also include the scope of research. The next
chapter will have the review of the topic whereby it will look at the physical features of the

ECC and compare them with those of traditional concrete. The third section will provide the
intended experimental procedure and describe the materials to be used. Fourth chapter will
carry the results of the experiment. The results will be derived from different tests, which
will be presented and then described deeply. The discussion part will be done carefully and
able to explain any contradictions and theories behind them. The last chapter will compose
of the conclusion. This will provide the summary of the research and the achieved out come
as well as recommendations for future studies.
Scope
The scope of this research covers the following tasks;
 To investigate the effects of the replacement of cement in the ECC with fly ash on
mechanical properties
 Investigate the effect of the PVA fibres in the ECC.
 At different ration of fly ash, perform broad laboratory study and analysis of mechanical
properties of concrete mixture using different volumes of PVA. The properties to be
analysed include compressive strength, tensile strength, shrinkage behaviour, creep and
workability of the concrete.
 Provide an details analysis of the results
 A feasibility study of using this new concrete in sidewalks instead of normal concrete
will be held in this research
 Provide a conclusion on the concrete strength and ductility of ECC at different ratios.
Methodology
 Cement will be replaced by fly ash with 4 percentage (10%,20%,30%,100%)
 The effect of the PVA fibres on the mixture by try different volume in the mixture.
 Carry out suitable experiment tests to establish mechanical properties such as workability,
which will be recorded during patching. The other tests such as tensile strength,
compressive strength and ductility will be dogged through appropriate tests at 7, 28 and 56
days.
Materials:
The required materials for the experiment are cement, water, fine aggregate, fly ash, PVA fibres, and
super plastics.
Project deliverables
item due date
Research plan 06/03/2018
Progress report weekly
Draft Interim Report Friday week 8
Final Softcopy of Poster Presentation Wednesday week 11
Final report week 13
Proposed project budget
item CDU contribution

Administration cost 220 AUD
Materials cost 300 AUD
CDU technical staff 280 AUD
Project plan
task Start date End date duration
Project journal Monday 20/07/2015 Monday 22/03/2016 177 days
Semester 2 starting Monday 26/02/2018 Friday 09/10/2015 60 days
Literature review Monday 20/07/2015 Wednesday 30/07/2015 9 days
Thesis plan Monday 20/07/2015 31/07/2015 10 days
Progress report weekly weekly
Thesis abstract Monday 31/08/2015 Friday 04/09/2015 5 days
Thesis A submission Monday 20/08/2015 Friday 09/10/2015 37 days
Poster preparation Monday 05/10/2015 Monday 12/10/2015 6 days
poster and
demonstration
Monday 12/10/2015 Monday 12/10/2015 1 day
Gant chart
Supervision
Supervision in the key disciplines required for this project is to be provided by the following
individuals:
Primary supervisor: Professor Sabaratnam Prathapan
Secondary supervisor: associate professor Krishnan Kannoorpatti
This project would not be possible without the much-appreciated commitments made by these
Participant contact details
Student:
Name: Mohammed Al Saleh
Email address: [e-mail]
Phone number: 0470263628
Primary supervisor:
Name: Professor Sabaratnam Prathapan
Email address: [e-mail]
Phone number: 0889466365
Secondary supervisor:
Name: Krishnan Kannoorpatti

Email address: [e-mail]
Phone number: 0889466219
References list
Cement sustainability initiative, (September, 2014). Conserving Nature's Foundations:
Biodiversity & Ecosystems" Cartagena, Colombia.
Freedonia Group Inc. (2014). World cement- industry market research, market share, market sizes,
sales, demand forecast, market leaders, company profiles, and cement industry trends.
Retrieved from: https://www.freedoniagroup.com/World-Cement.html