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A crack closure system for cementitious composite materials using knotted shape memory polymer (k-SMP) fibres
Maddalena, R. Bonanno, L. Balzano, B. Tuinea-Bobe, Cristina-Luminita Sweeney, John Mihai, I.
Maddalena, R.
Bonanno, L.
Balzano, B.
Tuinea-Bobe, Cristina-Luminita
Sweeney, John
Mihai, I.
Publication Date
2020-11
End of Embargo
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Rights
© 2020 Elsevier. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.
Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Open Access status
Accepted for publication
2020-07-20
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Additional title
Abstract
Formation of cracks represents one of the major causes of concrete deterioration, which can lead to durability
and safety issues. In this work, a novel crack closure system is developed, using polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
polymer fibres embedded in a mortar mix. The PET polymer has shape memory properties and shrinks upon
thermal activation, if free to do so, or otherwise exerts shrinkage restraint forces. A single knot was manufactured
at each end of the PET fibres to provide mechanical anchorage into the mortar matrix. Mortar samples with
embedded knotted fibres were pre-cracked and subsequently placed in an oven to thermally activate the polymers
and induce the shrinkage mechanism into the fibres. Crack closure was measured in the range 45–100%,
depending on the geometry, dimension and distribution of the fibres, and the size of the initial crack.
Version
Published version
Citation
Maddalena R, Bonanno L, Balzano B et al (2020) A crack closure system for cementitious composite materials using knotted shape memory polymer (k-SMP) fibres. Cement and Concrete Composites. 114: 103757.
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Article