Engineered Cementitious Composite Beams in Impact Damage Mitigation for Bridge Piers

Barge collisions pose a potential threat to bridge structures spanning navigable waterways. To enhance the protection of these bridges, the design of bridge piers should incorporate specific measures to withstand the impact caused by such collisions. Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) hold promise; however, they remain under-researched, particularly in the context of low-velocity impacts, which this manuscript aims to investigate. Steel-polyethylene (PE) hybrid-fiber-reinforced ECC beams, with dimensions of 100mm x 150mm x 1600mm, were subjected to low-velocity vertical impact loading. The beams underwent a low-velocity impact test using a 320kg drop tower. The results demonstrate that ECC beams exhibited reduced deflection and fragmentation on the tension face compared to normal reinforced concrete beams. Moreover, there is minimized formation of cracks on the tension face, along with a reduction in local scabbing at the point of impact. Notably distinct failure modes were observed between the nominal concrete beam and the ECC beams, which are thoroughly discussed in this manuscript.