Feasibility of Reduced Lap‐Spliced Length in Polyethylene Fiber‐Reinforced Strain‐Hardening Cementitious Composite

Abstract

is research investigates the interfacial behavior between polyethylene (PE) fiber-reinforced strain-hardening cement composite (PE-SHCC) and reinforcing bars that are spliced in the tension region to determine feasibility of reduced lap-spliced length in PE-SHCC. Twenty test specimens were subjected to monotonic and cyclic tension loads. e variables include the replacement levels of an expansive admixture (0% and 10%), the compressive strength of the SHCC mixtures (40 MPa and 80 MPa), and the lapspliced length in the tension region (40% and 60% of the splice length recommended by ACI 318). e PE-SHCC mixture contains polyethylene fiber to enhance the tensile strength, control the widths of the cracks, and increase the bond strength of the lap splice reinforcement and the calcium sulfo-aluminate-(CSA-) based expansive admixture to improve the tension-related performance in the lap splice zone. e results have led to the conclusion that SHCC mixtures can be used effectively to reduce the development length of lap splice reinforcement up to 60% of the splice length that is recommended by ACI 318. e addition of the calcium sulfo-aluminate-based expansive admixture in the SHCC mixtures improved the initial performance and mitigated the cracking behavior in the lap splice region.