LAUSR

Abstract Fibre reinforced cementitious composites (FRCC) hollow tube is a kind of promising high-toughness energy absorption structure. As this structure absorbs energy via the transverse deformation of tube, it is necessary to investigate the transverse compressive behavior and failure mode of the FRCC tubes. In this study, the transverse compressive response of cementitious composites tubes reinforced by Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (PE) fibre, respectively, has been experimentally investigated, numerically simulated and dimensionally analyzed. According to the transverse compression tests, the FRCC tubes failed with four-hinge fracture. The FRCC tubes presented ductile fracture while the plain cement-based material (P0) tube presented brittle fracture. The numerical simulation based on extended finite element method (XFEM) has a good agreement with the experimental measurements, and both the crack development at the hinges and stress distribution on the crack section are predicted. The fibre reinforcements remarkably enhanced the mechanical properties of tubes, including the transverse force resistance and deformation capacity. The peak force and maximum energy absorption of FRCC tube is 2 times and 60 times higher than those of P0 tube, respectively. The dimensional analysis suggested that the specific energy absorption per unit volume was principally dominated by the ratio of tube thickness to average radius, whereas the stroke efficiency was governed by the ratio of tube thickness to average radius and the ratio of average radius to tube length. This work provides a guidance for developing FRCC tubes with high specific energy absorption, and is expected to widen the applicability of FRCC tubes in protection engineering.