Effect of Elevated Temperature on Engineered Cementitious Composites using Natural River Sand

Engineered cementitious composites (ECC) is a recent construction material with better properties than conventional concrete. Currently, post-earthquake, fire in a building is one of the most serious disasters. The amount and size of sand used in ECC are important parameters for the performance under thermal conditions. Micro silica sand is utilized in the majority of ECC experiments related to thermal response. The study aim is to explore the impact of river sand (RS) on the ECC performance exposed to elevate temperatures up to 800˚C, through a series of experimental tests on compressive strength, mass losses, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) and microstructure. For this purpose, mixes were prepared with the incorporation of RS with varying particle sizes (2.36mm, 1.18mm, 0.60mm) instead of micro silica sand. There’s no spalling in ECC containing RS of varying particle sizes. The compressive strength, mass loss and UPV all reduced with increasing temperature, according to the findings. However, RS-ECC performs better with 0.60mm than 1.18mm and 2.36mm RS.