Experimental study on shear toughness of polyvinyl alcohol fiber reinforced engineered cementitious composite beams with different fiber contents

The shear toughness of polyvinyl alcohol fiber reinforced engineered cementitious composite (PVA/ECC) beams without stirrups was studied in this paper. Based on the testing results of shear failure from five groups of PVA/ECC beams, the shear toughness of the PVA/ECC beams with different fiber contents were analyzed and evaluated while using the shear toughness index and the diagonal crack composite index as indicators. The results show that the incorporation of PVA fibers can improve the cracking performance and the deformation capacity of the beam, enhance the bearing capacity of the oblique section, and thereby increase the shear toughness of the member. Additionally, within 0-2vol% of volume fraction of PVA fiber, the larger volume of PVA fiber, the more energy is consumed in the loading process, and the greater deflection is made before reaching to the ultimate load with the higher shear capacity of the oblique section, the better shear toughness of the beam is obtained.