Response Mechanics of a Hybrid-Fibre Engineered Cementitious Composites Under Impact

Program Code: 1631

Objectives:

Hybrid fibre reinforced engineering cementitious composite (ECC) is a highperformance fibre-reinforced cement composite and it is a promising engineering material for protective structures due to its excellent mechanical properties, such as high tensile strength, large pseudo strain-hardening, capacity to resist microcracking, and high energy absorption.

A great deal of research has been conducted to develop the ECC material and to understand the mechanical behaviour of the materials and structural members under various loadings including high-velocity impact loading. Hitherto nearly all the research on the mechanical behaviour of the material has focused on the experimental investigations and nearly no micromechanics theory and method has September 2014 26 been developed although ECC is actually a micromechanically designed material. Although micromechanical theory could be a very effective method to study the material and mechanical mechanism accurately, there is a significant gap in the research and development of such kinds of theories and methods.

In recent years, Zhang and her associates developed new impact resistant hybridfibre ECCs reinforced with PVA fibre and steel fibre and the new ECC has been found to have enhanced capability for impact resistance and energy absorption via extensive experimental and numerical studies.

The proposed research aims to understand the response mechanisms of the new ECC under impact loading and to develop deep understanding of the response and damage mechanism of the material and structures under impact, and to provide a framework for design and development of blast-resistance materials via theoretical and numerical studies. The specific objectives are:

• to establish in-depth understanding of the damage and failure mechanism of the material under blast loading;
• to develop and advance theory and knowledge in micromechanics on hybrid-fibre ECC;
• to investigate the mechanical behaviour of the ECC material, and develop suitable constitutive models for the ECC material under tension and compression with strain rate effect.
• to develop effective numerical methods and modelling technique for accurate modelling of the structural performance of ECC panels under blast loading

The candidate needs to have strong backgrounds and knowledge on Mechanics. Experience and knowledge on Finite Element Method and modelling is desired.

Contact:

Dr Y.X. (Sarah) Zhang y.zhang@adfa.edu.au