Significance of Shrinkage Induced Clamping Pressure in Fiber-Matrix Bonding in Cementitious Composite Materials

The present paper accesses the significance of shrinkage inducedclamping pressure in fiber/matrix bonding mechanisms incementitious composite materials. The paper contains a description of an experimental setup whichallows mbox{measurement} of the clamping pressure which develops on anelastic inhomogeneity embedded in a matrix consisting of acementitious material undergoing shrinkage during hydration(autogenous shrinkage). Furthermore, the paperpresents the analysis necessary to perform an interpretation of the experimental results and which allows for thedetermination of the clamping pressure acting on any elastic inhomogeneityembedded in the same cementitious matrix material. Fiber-shaped inhomogeneities are of special interest in cementitious composite material systems andresults are presented for the development of clamping pressure on three typical fiber types in two typical cementpastes used in high performance cementitious composite materials.Assuming a Coulomb type of friction on the fiber/matrix interface andusing typical values for the frictional coefficient it is shownthat the shrinkage induced clamping pressure could be one of the mostimportant factors determining the frictional stresses observed on debonded fiber/matrixinterfaces during pull-out.