Effect of high temperature on mechanical properties of polyethylene fibre-calcium carbonate whisker engineered cementitious composites

The mechanical properties of polyethylene fibre reinforced cementitious composites (PE-ECC) and polyethylene fibre-calcium carbonate whisker reinforced cementitious composites (PECW-ECC) were tested after exposure to different temperatures. And the microstructure changes of ECCs were observed by scanning electron microscope. The results showed the compressive and tensile strengths of PE-ECC and PECW-ECC tended to increase and then decrease with the increase of exposure temperature. The incorporation of CW improved the mechanical properties of PE-ECC to a certain extent. At the same exposure temperature, the compressive and tensile strengths of PECW-ECC are better than that of PE-ECC, and the plastic deformation capacity is also better than that of PE-ECC. The reason is that CW can be tightly bonded with the matrix material, and it has a filling effect on matrix defects, a bridging effect on the microscopic cracks, and a deflecting effect on the microscopic cracks.