Seawater sea-sand Engineered Cementitious Composites (SS-ECC) for marine and coastal applications

Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) have great potential in marine and coastal applications to extend the service life of infrastructures. In this study, the feasibility of using seawater and sea-sand to produce both normal- and high-strength ECC was explored. Some fundamental properties of seawater sea-sand ECC (SS-ECC) were evaluated, including setting time, 28-day compressive strength, tensile performance, and crack pattern under tension. Normal-strength SS-ECC with compressive strength of 58 MPa, tensile strength of 5 MPa and tensile strain capacity of 4%, as well as high-strength SS-ECC with compressive strength of 137 MPa, tensile strength of 8 MPa and tensile strain capacity of 5% were produced. Using seawater and sea-sand slightly increased the compressive strength (12%), and marginally decreased the tensile strength (6%) and tensile strain capacity (18%) of normal-strength ECC, while it has almost no effects on these properties of high-strength ECC. Additionally, using seawater and sea-sand decreased the crack width of normal-strength ECC, but increased that of high-strength ECC. These findings provide insights into future design and applications of ECC in high-performance marine and coastal infrastructures.