A crack closure system for cementitious composite materials using knotted shape memory polymer (k-SMP) fibres

Formation of cracks represents one of the major causes of concrete deterioration, which can lead to durability and safety issues. In this work, a novel crack closure system is developed, using polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymer fibres embedded in a mortar mix. The PET polymer has shape memory...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cement & concrete composites 2020-11, Vol.114, p.103757, Article 103757
Main Authors: Maddalena, Riccardo, Bonanno, Lorenzo, Balzano, Brunella, Tuinea-Bobe, Cristina, Sweeney, John, Mihai, Iulia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Concrete
Crack closure
k-SMP
Self-healing
Shape memory polymer
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Summary:Formation of cracks represents one of the major causes of concrete deterioration, which can lead to durability and safety issues. In this work, a novel crack closure system is developed, using polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymer fibres embedded in a mortar mix. The PET polymer has shape memory properties and shrinks upon thermal activation, if free to do so, or otherwise exerts shrinkage restraint forces. A single knot was manufactured at each end of the PET fibres to provide mechanical anchorage into the mortar matrix. Mortar samples with embedded knotted fibres were pre-cracked and subsequently placed in an oven to thermally activate the polymers and induce the shrinkage mechanism into the fibres. Crack closure was measured in the range 45–100%, depending on the geometry, dimension and distribution of the fibres, and the size of the initial crack.
ISSN:0958-9465
1873-393X
DOI:10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2020.103757