Materials Science and Engineering Commons^™

Fracture Response Of Wollastonite Fiber-Reinforced Cementitious Composites: Evaluation Using Micro-Indentation And Finite Element Simulation, Sami Doner, Gideon A. Lyngdoh, Sumeru Nayak, Sumanta Das

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

The paper presents indentation studies on wollastonite fiber incorporated cementitious systems. The acicular nature of the fibers is poised to delay the coalescence of micro-cracks in such systems thus leading to tougher building materials. Towards that end, load-penetration depth results from the indentation studies are employed to ascertain elastic and fracture properties of wollastonite-incorporated cementitious composites. While up to 10% mass-based cement-replacement by wollastonite results in comparable elastic moduli as compared to conventional binders, the fracture toughness increases by as much as 33%. In order to gain insights into the toughening mechanisms brought about by the fine fibers, a microstructure-guided …