Effects of gold tailings dosage and PVA fiber content on the frost resistance of ECC

Abstract

In this study, the effect of gold tailings on the frost resistance of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) was investigated. The ECC were made with three gold tailings dosages and four polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber contents. A water-binder ratio (W/B) of 0.28 was used for all mixtures. Surface damage, mass loss, relative dynamic elastic modulus, compressive strength and damaged layer thickness were tested to investigate the frost resistance of ECC. The results indicate that the effect of gold tailings on the frost resistance of ECC is marginal. Moreover, the frost resistance of ECC increases with the increase of fiber content. The ECC with the addition of gold tailings have the same excellent frost resistance as those without gold tailings, indicating that it is feasible to replace silica sand with gold tailings up to 100% replacement in ECC. In addition, a predictive model of damaged layer thickness of ECC in function of gold tailings dosage and freezing-thawing (F-T) cycle was developed.