Effects of a Short Heat Treatment Period on the Pullout Resistance of Shape Memory Alloy Fibers in Mortar

The feasibility of the crack closure of cementitious composites reinforced with shape memory alloy (SMA) fibers was investigated by performing single-fiber pullout tests. To demonstrate the fast crack closing ability, in this study, a heat treatment (300 °C) was applied for a short time (10 min). A short heat treatment was applied for 10 min, after the slip reached 0.5 mm, to activate the shape memory effects of cold-drawn SMA fibers. Two types of alloys were investigated, NiTi and NiTiNb, with two geometries, either smooth or dog-bone-shaped. During the heat treatment, the pullout stress of the SMA fibers initially decreased due to thermal extension, and then increased after heating for 1–3 min, resulting from the shape memory effects. However, their pullout stress recovery during and after the heat treatment was different for the different alloys and fiber geometries. The NiTi fibers generally produced a higher and faster recovery in terms of their pullout stress than the NiTiNb fibers, while the dog-bone-shaped fibers showed a faster pullout stress recovery than the smooth fibers.