Nacre-inspired design of engineered cementitious composite (ECC) beams for enhanced impact resistance and energy absorption
Mohammad Kaiser Ahamed, Hongxu Wang, Ali Ameri, Paul J. Hazell
Abstract
This paper presents an investigation into the flexural behaviour of bio-inspired engineered cementitious composite (ECC) beams under quasi-static and dynamic bending loads. These beams included a monolithic structure and three additional beams inspired by the structure of nacre. Three-point bending tests were conducted on the beams with different loading rates. The force-displacement response, failure modes, and energy absorption characteristics of these ECC beams were studied. The results indicated that the bio-inspired beams were more ductile, sustaining larger deformation, absorbing more energy, and were more resistant to impact than the monolithic beams. Specifically, under quasi-static bending, the bio-inspired beams sustained 150–300% larger maximum deformations and 55–195% higher energy absorption than the monolithic beams. Moreover, under dynamic bending, the layered beam incorporating polyurethane interlayers showed 27% more energy absorption than the monolithic counterpart. When surface asperities and steel wire mesh were incorporated, the energy absorption capacity was more than doubled.