Shear Strength of Engineered Cementitious Composites under Push-Off Loads

This paper studies the shear strength of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) under push-off loads. In total six specimens were tested experimentally on conventional concrete and ECC specimens. The effects of concrete ductility and stirrups crossing the shear plane were investigated in the experimental programme. Test results showed that ECC specimens could reach substantially higher load capacities than concrete specimens as a result of its superior tensile ductility. In terms of failure modes, concrete specimens developed severe crushing and spalling near the shear plane, whereas only a dominant crack was formed in ECC specimens. After attaining the load capacity, ECC specimens with stirrups crossing the shear plane could sustain a certain level of residual forces when the slip across the shear plane was relatively large. Besides the shear strength, the dilatancy of specimens was measured to shed light on the differences between the shear behaviour of ECC and concrete specimens. Finally, conclusions were drawn from experimental results which can be used for the shear design of ECC members.