Micromechanics constitutive modelling and optimization of strain hardening geopolymer composite

Abstract This paper investigates the micromechanics constitutive modelling and optimization of a fiber-reinforced strain-hardening geopolymer composite (SHGC) recently developed by the authors. Micromechanical parameters of the developed fly ash-based SHGC were independently measured or deduced to compute the analytical crack bridging (σ-δ) relation of the composite. The predicted σ-δ relation was compared with the experimental test results. It was confirmed that the previously developed micromechanics-based model can reasonably predict the σ-δ relation of fly ash-based SHGCs. Using the verified model, a parametric study was then performed to evaluate the effects of fiber length, fiber surface oil-coating, and matrix fracture toughness on critical (minimum) fiber content required to exhibit saturated pseudo strain-hardening (PSH) behavior. The results indicated that the critical fiber content in fly ash-based SHGCs is mainly governed by the energy-based criterion. It was demonstrated that the fiber surface oil coating, the increase of fiber length and the reduction of matrix fracture toughness are effective approaches to reduce the critical fiber content. Using the model, it was demonstrated that fly ash-based SHGCs can be systematically optimized by proper tailoring of the material constituents to achieve saturated PSH behavior with the lowest amount of fiber, and thereby the lowest cost.