Evaluation of a Polyvinyl Alcohol Fiber Reinforced Engineered Cementitious Composite for a Thin-Bonded Pavement Overlay

Status: Complete
Report Date: 03/31/2011

Summary:

A need arose at the MnROAD research facility to provide a thin beam structural overlay on a moderately deteriorated concrete pavement test cell. This research was done to evaluate a Polyvinyl Alcohol Fiber Reinforced Engineered Cementitious Composite (PVA-ECC) and assess the prospects to utilize the material in the bonded pavement overlay. PVA-ECC is a ductile material that can achieve extremely high flexural strength and tensile strain capacity, characteristics which can prevent reflective cracking in pavement. The PVA-ECC mix was tailored by including coarse aggregate to maintain some of the benefits of typical concrete pavements. Workability, flexural and compressive strength, ductility and durability tests were done to assess the performance at varying fiber contents. Results show that fiber at 16 lbs/cy achieved the highest flexural and compressive strength, at 1030 and 6910 psi respectively. The paired student's t-test shows that 16 lbs/cy of fiber can improve flexural strength by between 150 and 300 psi with 95% confidence. This small increase and lack of any noticeable ductile behavior do not make the PVA-ECC beneficial for overlay applications. This research found that the modified PVA-ECC with the low doses of fiber examined in this study are not suitable for the overlay at MnROAD.

Final Deliverables:

Report #2011-11