High durability engineered cementitious composites with polymer fibers

Abstract

An engineered cementitious composite (ECC) has a tensile strain capacity ranging from 8.6 to 12.5% and includes a cement precursor, unprocessed desert sand, and polymer fibers. The polymer fibers may be ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers, polypropylene fibers, or a combination thereof. A method of preparing an ECC structure includes providing a cementitious precursor mixture including a cement precursor and unprocessed desert sand, introducing water into the cementitious precursor mixture to form a cement slurry, and adding polymer fibers to the cement slurry. The polymer fibers may be ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers, polypropylene fibers, or a combination thereof. Then, the method includes forming a structure with the cement slurry and curing the cement slurry.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.