Chapter 1
Static Mechanical Properties of UHPCC
1.1 Introduction
Ultra-high performance cementitious composites (UHPCC) is a relativity new type
of cementitious materials which has very low water-to-binder (W/B) ratio, high
amount of high-range water reducer (HRWR), fine aggregates and high-strength
steel fibers (Graybeal 2006). With the prominent mechanical properties, i.e., the high
compressive and tensile strengths, high ductility as well as the high fracture energy,
UHPCC becomes the most prospective construction materials for both civil and
military structures, such as fortification, nuclear waste storage containment, highway
bridge, high-rise building, etc. (Schmidt and Fehling 2005). Investigations of the
mechanical behaviors of UHPCC are important and essential to provide valuable
information for the structural design and calibration/validation of the constitutive
model. In this Chapter, static mechanical properties of UHPCC are mainly concerned.
For the existing experimental studies on the influence of steel fiber content on the
static behavior of UHPCC, Hassan et al. (2012) developed the simplified test methods
to measure the elastic modulus, stress–strain curves and post-cracking behaviors
of ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) specimens in both
compression and tension. It was concluded that, addition of steel fibers (0% and 2.0%
by volume) significantly increased the tensile strength and ductility of UHPFRC, but
had relatively slight effect on the compressive strength and elastic modulus. Wille
et al. (2014) conducted a series of direct tensile tests (dog-bone specimen with the
length of 147 mm) to study the effect of steel fiber content (1.5 ~ 3.0% by volume)
on the tensile properties of UHPFRC. The results showed that the tensile strength
and the corresponding strain as well as the energy absorption capacity had a strong
dependency on the steel fiber content. Liu et al. (2016) studied the effect of steel
fiber content (0 ~ 2.5%) on the tensile properties of ultra-high performance concrete
(UHPC) with coarse aggregates. It was concluded that, both the first crack tensile
strength and the fiber-bridging stress increased with the fiber volumetric ratio rising.
Abbas et al. (2015) (1.0%, 3.0% and 6.0% by volume), Kazemi and Lubell (2012)
(0 ~ 5.0% by volume), Wu et al. (2016) (0 ~ 3.0% by volume), Yoo et al. (2013,
© Science Press 2021
Q. Fang et al., UHPCC Under Impact and Blast,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6842-2_1
1
Static Mechanical Properties of UHPCC
1.1 Introduction
Ultra-high performance cementitious composites (UHPCC) is a relativity new type
of cementitious materials which has very low water-to-binder (W/B) ratio, high
amount of high-range water reducer (HRWR), fine aggregates and high-strength
steel fibers (Graybeal 2006). With the prominent mechanical properties, i.e., the high
compressive and tensile strengths, high ductility as well as the high fracture energy,
UHPCC becomes the most prospective construction materials for both civil and
military structures, such as fortification, nuclear waste storage containment, highway
bridge, high-rise building, etc. (Schmidt and Fehling 2005). Investigations of the
mechanical behaviors of UHPCC are important and essential to provide valuable
information for the structural design and calibration/validation of the constitutive
model. In this Chapter, static mechanical properties of UHPCC are mainly concerned.
For the existing experimental studies on the influence of steel fiber content on the
static behavior of UHPCC, Hassan et al. (2012) developed the simplified test methods
to measure the elastic modulus, stress–strain curves and post-cracking behaviors
of ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) specimens in both
compression and tension. It was concluded that, addition of steel fibers (0% and 2.0%
by volume) significantly increased the tensile strength and ductility of UHPFRC, but
had relatively slight effect on the compressive strength and elastic modulus. Wille
et al. (2014) conducted a series of direct tensile tests (dog-bone specimen with the
length of 147 mm) to study the effect of steel fiber content (1.5 ~ 3.0% by volume)
on the tensile properties of UHPFRC. The results showed that the tensile strength
and the corresponding strain as well as the energy absorption capacity had a strong
dependency on the steel fiber content. Liu et al. (2016) studied the effect of steel
fiber content (0 ~ 2.5%) on the tensile properties of ultra-high performance concrete
(UHPC) with coarse aggregates. It was concluded that, both the first crack tensile
strength and the fiber-bridging stress increased with the fiber volumetric ratio rising.
Abbas et al. (2015) (1.0%, 3.0% and 6.0% by volume), Kazemi and Lubell (2012)
(0 ~ 5.0% by volume), Wu et al. (2016) (0 ~ 3.0% by volume), Yoo et al. (2013,
© Science Press 2021
Q. Fang et al., UHPCC Under Impact and Blast,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6842-2_1
1