Experimental and analytical investigation on developing re-centring self-compacting cementitious composites using shape memory alloys fibres

A new generation of self-compacting cementitious composites capable of crack-closing and re-centring behaviour was developed using segmented shape memory alloy fibres invented in this research. The thesis covered various aspects of using SMA fibres in cementitious composites, from fibre pullout behaviour with different interlocking mechanisms and surface microtopography to the structural performance of the composite and its stress-crack width modelling. Cementitious composites developed using segmented shape memory alloy fibres maintained their re-centring and crack closing capacity of around 70 percent and 65 percent, respectively, even at large imposed deflections.