Material-Level Shrinkage and Tensile-Performance Screening of High-Strength Polyethylene-Fibre Engineered Cementitious Composite (PE-ECC) Mortar: MgO Versus Liquid Shrinkage-Reducing Admixture
- 1Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute, Wuhan 430010, China
- 2Wuhan Municipal Engineering Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd., Wuhan 430023, China
Abstract
High-strength polyethylene-fibre engineered cementitious composites (PE-ECCs) provide tensile strain hardening and distributed cracking, but their high paste content and low water-to-binder ratio produce substantial shrinkage. This study conducted a multi-criteria screening of an MgO expansive agent and a shrinkage-reducing admixture (SRA) in a PE-ECC repair mortar for hydraulic-concrete applications. The reference matrix contained 65% P·II 52.5 cement, 10% silica fume, 25% blast-furnace slag, a water-to-binder ratio of 0.27, and 2.5 vol.% PE fibre. Drying shrinkage, compressive and flexural strengths, tensile response, crack number, and strain-based crack-opening estimate were assessed. The reference mortar reached 90.1 MPa compressive strength and 6.6% tensile strain but developed 1489 με of 28 d shrinkage. 2% MgO reduced the 28 d shrinkage to 1384 με, whereas higher dosages shifted from contraction to net expansion and reduced tensile performance. The liquid SRA reduced 28 d shrinkage to 982, 930, and 874 με at 1%, 2%, and 3%, respectively. The 1% mixture retained 82.3 MPa compressive strength, 5.7 MPa tensile strength, 4.4% tensile strain, and a crack-opening estimate of 66.4 μm. Under the adopted criteria, 1% SRA provided the most balanced combination of dimensional stability, strength, and tensile ductility, making it a candidate for application-specific evaluation in hydraulic-concrete repair.
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BibTeX
@article{lu2026materiallevel,
title = {{Material-Level Shrinkage and Tensile-Performance Screening of High-Strength Polyethylene-Fibre Engineered Cementitious Composite (PE-ECC) Mortar: MgO Versus Liquid Shrinkage-Reducing Admixture}},
author = {Qi Lu and Xian Zhou and Xian Wu and Zeyu Fan and Peihang Li and Wei Han},
journal = {Polymers},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.3390/polym18212798},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2798},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Material-Level Shrinkage and Tensile-Performance Screening of High-Strength Polyethylene-Fibre Engineered Cementitious Composite (PE-ECC) Mortar: MgO Versus Liquid Shrinkage-Reducing Admixture
AU - Qi Lu
AU - Xian Zhou
AU - Xian Wu
AU - Zeyu Fan
AU - Peihang Li
AU - Wei Han
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/09
JO - Polymers
DO - 10.3390/polym18212798
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2798
AB - High-strength polyethylene-fibre engineered cementitious composites (PE-ECCs) provide tensile strain hardening and distributed cracking, but their high paste content and low water-to-binder ratio produce substantial shrinkage. This study conducted a multi-criteria screening of an MgO expansive agent and a shrinkage-reducing admixture (SRA) in a PE-ECC repair mortar for hydraulic-concrete applications. The reference matrix contained 65% P·II 52.5 cement, 10% silica fume, 25% blast-furnace slag, a water-to-binder ratio of 0.27, and 2.5 vol.% PE fibre. Drying shrinkage, compressive and flexural strengths, tensile response, crack number, and strain-based crack-opening estimate were assessed. The reference mortar reached 90.1 MPa compressive strength and 6.6% tensile strain but developed 1489 με of 28 d shrinkage. 2% MgO reduced the 28 d shrinkage to 1384 με, whereas higher dosages shifted from contraction to net expansion and reduced tensile performance. The liquid SRA reduced 28 d shrinkage to 982, 930, and 874 με at 1%, 2%, and 3%, respectively. The 1% mixture retained 82.3 MPa compressive strength, 5.7 MPa tensile strength, 4.4% tensile strain, and a crack-opening estimate of 66.4 μm. Under the adopted criteria, 1% SRA provided the most balanced combination of dimensional stability, strength, and tensile ductility, making it a candidate for application-specific evaluation in hydraulic-concrete repair.
SN - 2073-4360
ER -