Pullout Behavior of Bundled Aramid Fiber in Fiber-Reinforced Cementitious Composite

The tensile performance of fiber-reinforced cementitious composite (FRCC) after first matrix cracking is characterized by a tensile stress–crack width relationship called the bridging law. The bridging law can be obtained by an integral calculus of forces carried by individual bridging fibers considering the effect of the fiber inclination angle. The main objective of this study is to investigate experimentally and evaluate the pullout behavior of a single aramid fiber, which is made with a bundling of original yarns of aramid fiber. The bundled aramid fiber has a nonsmooth surface, and it is expected to have good bond performance with the matrix. The test variables in the pullout test are the thickness of the matrix and the inclined angle of the fiber. From the test results, the pullout load–slip curves showed that the load increases lineally until maximum load, after which it decreases gradually. The maximum pullout load and slip at the maximum load increase as the embedded length of the fiber becomes larger. The pullout load–crack width relationship is modeled by a bilinear model, and the bridging law is calculated. The calculated result shows good agreement with the experimental curves obtained by the uniaxial tension test of aramid–FRCC.