Ultra-high-ductile behavior of a polyethylene fiber-reinforced alkali-activated slag-based composite

This paper presents an experimental study of the meso-level composite properties of an ultra-high ductile polyethylene-fiber-reinforced alkali-activated slag-based composite. Four mixtures with 1.75 vol% of polyethylene fibers were prepared with varying water-to-binder ratio. The viscosity of the matrix was controlled to ensure a uniform fiber dispersion. A series of experiments, including density, compression, and uniaxial tension tests, was performed to characterize the mechanical properties of the composite. The test results showed that the average tensile strength to compressive strength ratio of the composites was 19.8%, nearly double that of normal concrete, and the average crack width was 101 mu m. It was also demonstrated that tensile strain capacity and tensile strength of up to 7.50% and 13.06 MPa, respectively, can be attained when using the proposed polyethylene-fiber-reinforced alkali-activated slag-based composites. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.