Nguyen et al. (2023) — Optimization of fly ash-based polyethylene fiber-reinforced...

Citation

Phương Hoàng Nguyễn, Huy Hoàng Nguyễn, Quang-Hiếu Lương, John E. Bolander, Bang Yeon Lee (2023). Optimization of fly ash-based polyethylene fiber-reinforced engineered cement-free composites with low-density and ultra-ductility using Taguchi robust design method. Journal of Building Engineering, Vol. 66, Article 105946.

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jobe.2023.105946
• Atlas layer: extension
• Related Victor Li book chapter: Chapter 4: Special ECCs / Geopolymers; Chapter 5: Processing and Quality Control
• Source PDF: nguyen-2023-optimization-of-fly-ash-based-polyethylene.pdf
• Extracted text: atlas/full_text/nguyen-2023-optimization-of-fly-ash-based-polyethylene_full_text.md
• Source note: atlas/source_notes/nguyen-2023-optimization-of-fly-ash-based-polyethylene_source_note.md

Why this paper matters

Systematically applies the Taguchi robust design ($L_{16}$ orthogonal array) and multiple regression modeling to decouple curing temperature, heating time, and PE fiber volume in fly ash-based cement-free composites (F-ECFC), yielding an optimized lightweight ($1.62\text{ g/cm}^3$) composite achieving 25.9 MPa compressive strength, 8.28 MPa tensile strength, and 11.0% tensile strain capacity with a 60.6% reduction in carbon footprint.

Main contribution

• Executed $L_{16}$ Taguchi orthogonal design across 4 curing temperatures (60–120 °C), 4 curing durations (12–48 h), and 4 fiber volumes (0.5–2.0 vol%).
• Statistically identified via ANOVA that curing temperature dominates compressive strength (77.3% contribution), fiber volume dominates tensile strength (78.9%), and excessive temperature degrades tensile ductility.
• Experimentally validated the regression-optimized formulation ($80\ ^\circ\text{C}\text{-}48\text{H-}2.0\%$), achieving $f_c = 25.9\text{ MPa}$, $f_{ts} = 8.28\text{ MPa}$, and $\varepsilon_{ts} = 11.0\%$.

Evidence summary

• Experimental ranges: Density $1.55\text{--}1.78\text{ g/cm}^3$, $f_c = 0.34\text{--}32.51\text{ MPa}$, $f_{ts} = 0.38\text{--}8.79\text{ MPa}$, $\varepsilon_{ts} = 0.74\text{--}14.65\%$ (Table 6, Table 7, pages 6, 9).
• Peak Ductility: $60\ ^\circ\text{C}\text{-}24\text{H-}1.0\%$ reached $\varepsilon_{ts} = 14.65 \pm 0.51\%$.
• Optimized Formulation ($80\ ^\circ\text{C}\text{-}48\text{H-}2.0\%$): $\rho_h = 1.62\text{ g/cm}^3$, $f_c = 25.9\text{ MPa}$, $f_{cr} = 4.34\text{ MPa}$, $f_{ts} = 8.28\text{ MPa}$, $\varepsilon_{ts} = 11.0\%$ (Table 14, page 13, Fig. 5).
• Sustainability: MSI model verified 60.6% carbon footprint reduction compared to M45-ECC (Table 15, Fig. 7).

Linked Atlas nodes

• 02_concepts/extreme_ductility_ecc.md
• 04_material_systems/green_ecc.md
• 02_concepts/strain_hardening_criteria.md
• 05_experiments/direct_tensile_test.md

Claim-evidence rows to add

Verification status

• PDF preserved: yes (nguyen-2023-optimization-of-fly-ash-based-polyethylene.pdf)
• Text extracted: yes (atlas/full_text/nguyen-2023-optimization-of-fly-ash-based-polyethylene_full_text.md)
• DOI verified: yes (10.1016/j.jobe.2023.105946)
• Page/figure/table verified: yes
• Claim-evidence matrix ready: yes

Cautions

• Curing temperatures $>100\ ^\circ\text{C}$ degrade PE fibers, substantially reducing tensile ductility.