Choi et al. (2022) — Highly Ductile Behavior and Sustainability of Engineered Cementitious Composites Reinforced by PE Based Selvage Fibers

Citation

Choi, J.-I., Park, S.-E., Kim, Y., Yang, K., Kim, Y. Y., & Lee, B. Y. (2022). Highly ductile behavior and sustainability of engineered cementitious composites reinforced by PE based selvage fibers. Cement and Concrete Composites, 134, 104729.

DOI: 10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2022.104729
Atlas layer: extension
Related Victor Li book chapter: Chapter 7: Alternative Reinforcing Fibers (Recycled UHMWPE Fibers) & Chapter 9: Green ECC (Embodied Energy and Cost Optimization)
Source PDF: choi-2022-highly-ductile-behavior-and-sustainability.pdf
Extracted text: full_text/choi-2022-highly-ductile-behavior-and-sustainability_full_text.md
Source note: source_notes/choi-2022-highly-ductile-behavior-and-sustainability_source_note.md

Why this paper matters

Solves the primary economic and carbon barrier of high-strength PE-ECC (where virgin UHMWPE fibers account for > 80 % of material cost) by successfully upcycling industrial textile waste—discarded UHMWPE selvages from protective glove manufacturing—into high-performance short fibers, achieving tensile ductility $> 5.6\%$ and reducing fiber cost by ~60 %.

Main contribution

Proposes three mechanical processing methods to convert discarded industrial UHMWPE fabric selvages into dispersed short fibers (S1: chopped bundle, S2: unraveled thread, S3: de-twisted single filament).
Evaluates four composite mixtures (Control virgin PE vs. S1, S2, S3 selvage fibers) at 1.75 vol. % in a high-strength cement paste matrix ($w/c = 0.25$).
Proves that fully fibrillated and de-twisted selvage fibers (Type S3) deliver extreme mechanical performance: 28-day compressive strength of 55.4 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 10.42 MPa, and direct tensile strain capacity of 5.65 % with dense micro-cracking.
Conducts comprehensive material sustainability indicator and life-cycle analysis (LCA), demonstrating a 58 % reduction in material cost and a 42 % reduction in embodied energy compared to virgin PE-ECC.

Evidence summary

Fiber Processing & Types ($V_f = 1.75\text{ vol. \%}$, length 12 mm):
NF (Normal virgin PE): $d_f = 12\ \mu\text{m}, \sigma_f = 2700\text{ MPa}, E_f = 88\text{ GPa}$.
S1 (Direct chopped selvage): Interwoven bundles, poor individual fiber dispersion.
S2 (Thread unraveled): Partially separated yarn strands.
S3 (De-twisted monofilaments): Completely separated PE filaments ($d_f \approx 20\ \mu\text{m}, \sigma_f \approx 2500\text{ MPa}$).
Mechanical Properties (28-day water cured, $w/c = 0.25$):
Compressive strength: 52.5–56.8 MPa (55.4 MPa for S3-ECC).
Uniaxial tensile strain capacity ($\epsilon_u$): NF = $6.82 \pm 0.55\%$; S3 = $5.65 \pm 0.48\%$; S2 = $3.25 \pm 0.35\%$; S1 = $1.45 \pm 0.22\%$.
Ultimate tensile strength ($\sigma_u$): NF = 11.85 MPa; S3 = 10.42 MPa; S2 = 6.85 MPa; S1 = 4.12 MPa.
First-cracking strength: 4.2–5.1 MPa across mixes.
Sustainability & Cost Analysis:
Embodied energy reduced from 4.17 to 2.42 GJ/m³ (-42 %).
Material cost reduced by 58 % relative to commercial virgin PE-ECC.

Linked Atlas nodes

02_concepts/strain_hardening_criteria.md
04_material_systems/green_ecc.md
04_material_systems/pe_ecc.md
05_experiments/direct_tensile_test.md
02_concepts/circular_economy_materials.md
02_concepts/life_cycle_analysis.md

Relationship to Victor Li book

Extends Victor Li (2019) Chapter 7 (Alternative Fibers) and Chapter 9 (Green ECC) by demonstrating that high-value industrial polymer scrap (UHMWPE selvages) can replace expensive virgin fibers without sacrificing extreme tensile strain capacity ($\epsilon_u > 5\%$).
Directly addresses the core critique of PE-ECC's high virgin fiber embodied carbon, providing a validated industrial upcycling route for sustainable infrastructure materials.

Claim-evidence rows to add

Atlas node	Claim	Evidence summary	Page/Figure/Table	Status
`04_material_systems/pe_ecc.md`	De-twisted UHMWPE selvage waste fibers (Type S3) achieve direct tensile strain capacity of 5.65 % and tensile strength of 10.42 MPa	Uniaxial tensile tests on S3-ECC specimens showed saturated multiple micro-cracking with $\epsilon_u = 5.65\%$	Section 3.2, Fig. 5 & 6, Table 3	verified_from_pdf
`02_concepts/circular_economy_materials.md`	Upcycling PE fabric selvage waste reduces composite material cost by 58 % and embodied energy by 42 % compared to virgin PE-ECC	LCA and cost modeling quantified significant reductions in environmental burden and raw material expenditure	Section 3.3, Fig. 8-10, Table 4	verified_from_pdf
`02_concepts/strain_hardening_criteria.md`	Fibrillation and individual filament separation are required to ensure high fiber count and steady-state flat cracking in selvage-reinforced ECC	S3 (monofilament) achieved $\epsilon_u = 5.65\%$ compared to S1 (bundles, $\epsilon_u = 1.45\%$) due to uniform bridging distribution	Section 3.2 & 4, Fig. 7	verified_from_pdf

Verification status

PDF preserved: yes (choi-2022-highly-ductile-behavior-and-sustainability.pdf)
Text extracted: yes (full_text/choi-2022-highly-ductile-behavior-and-sustainability_full_text.md)
DOI verified: yes (10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2022.104729)
Metadata verified: yes (Cement and Concrete Composites, Vol. 134, 104729, 2022)
Claim-evidence matrix ready: yes

Cautions

Selvage waste from glove manufacturing requires proper de-twisting and filament separation (Type S3); unprocessed bundled selvage (Type S1) limits ductility to ~1.45 %.
Quality control of selvage raw feedstocks (cleanliness, uniform polymer molecular weight) is required for industrial batch scaling.