Lương et al. (2025) — Achieving ultra-ductility exceeding 13 % and cost efficiency with rubberized...

Citation

Quang-Hiếu Lương, Huy Hoàng Nguyễn, Phương Hoàng Nguyễn, Se-Eon Park, Youngsang Kim, Bang Yeon Lee (2025). Achieving ultra-ductility exceeding 13 % and cost efficiency with rubberized alkali-activated slag-based cement-free composites. Developments in the Built Environment, Vol. 22, Article 100677.

• DOI: 10.1016/j.dibe.2025.100677
• Atlas layer: extension
• Related Victor Li book chapter: Chapter 4: Special ECCs / Geopolymer & Recycled Materials; Chapter 2: Micromechanics and Materials Design
• Source PDF: luong-2025-achieving-ultra-ductility-exceeding-13.pdf
• Extracted text: atlas/full_text/luong-2025-achieving-ultra-ductility-exceeding-13_full_text.md
• Source note: atlas/source_notes/luong-2025-achieving-ultra-ductility-exceeding-13_source_note.md

Why this paper matters

Formulates novel ultra-ductile rubberized alkali-activated slag composites (UD-RSCs) incorporating 5 wt% crumb rubber and high sand ratios (s/b = 0.4–0.8), achieving unprecedented tensile strain capacities of 15.64% with normal PE fibers (PE30-S8) and 13.41% with recycled selvage PE fibers (SPE25-S4) alongside 35–37 MPa compressive strength.

Main contribution

• Overcame the yield extensibility of steel rebars ($12\text{--}14\%$) by reaching $15.64\%$ tensile ductility in high-sand ($s/b = 0.8$) PE-UD-RSC.
• Successfully upcycled textile selvage PE fibers into ultra-ductile cement-free composites, achieving $13.41\%$ tensile strain capacity and $6.36\text{ MPa}$ tensile strength.
• Used crumb rubber ($400\ \mu\text{m}$, 5 wt% of binder) to lower matrix fracture toughness $K_m$ and maximize the Energy Performance Index ($EPI$).

Evidence summary

• Compressive strength: PE30-S0 ($27.6\text{ MPa}$), PE30-S4 ($33.3\text{ MPa}$), PE30-S8 ($34.9\text{ MPa}$), PE25-S4 ($37.3\text{ MPa}$), SPE25-S4 ($37.0\text{ MPa}$) (Section 3.1, Fig. 5).
• Direct tensile properties:
• PE30-S8: $f_{1c} = 4.01\text{ MPa}$, $f_t = 5.33\text{ MPa}$, $\varepsilon_{ts} = 15.64\pm 1.83\%$, $E_{ts} = 0.73\text{ MPa}\cdot\text{m/m}$.
• SPE25-S4: $f_{1c} = 3.83\text{ MPa}$, $f_t = 6.36\text{ MPa}$, $\varepsilon_{ts} = 13.41\pm 1.30\%$, $E_{ts} = 0.68\text{ MPa}\cdot\text{m/m}$.
• PE25-S4: $f_{1c} = 3.54\text{ MPa}$, $f_t = 5.94\text{ MPa}$, $\varepsilon_{ts} = 14.61\pm 2.29\%$.
• PE30-S4: $f_{1c} = 3.94\text{ MPa}$, $f_t = 6.04\text{ MPa}$, $\varepsilon_{ts} = 13.82\pm 1.61\%$ (Table 4, Figs. 6, 7).
• Crack patterns: PE30-S0 ($\eta_c = 119.0$, $\omega_c = 82.5\ \mu\text{m}$), PE30-S8 ($\eta_c = 57.2$, $\omega_c = 223.3\ \mu\text{m}$), SPE25-S4 ($\eta_c = 46.1$, $\omega_c = 239.8\ \mu\text{m}$) (Table 6, Fig. 8).
• Microstructure: SEM-EDS verified C-A-S-H gel as primary binder phase.

Linked Atlas nodes

• 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 (luong-2025-achieving-ultra-ductility-exceeding-13.pdf)
• Text extracted: yes (atlas/full_text/luong-2025-achieving-ultra-ductility-exceeding-13_full_text.md)
• DOI verified: yes (10.1016/j.dibe.2025.100677)
• Page/figure/table verified: yes
• Claim-evidence matrix ready: yes

Cautions

• At extreme tensile strains ($>13\%$), crack widths expand to $220\text{--}240\ \mu\text{m}$, exceeding the standard $100\ \mu\text{m}$ durability threshold.