Development of pigmentable engineered cementitious composites for architectural elements through integrated structures and materials design

Integrated structures and materials design (ISMD) represents a new design approach that combines materials and structural engineering for the purpose of more effectively achieving targeted performance. Performance based design of structures provides flexibility and incentive to select composite materials with properties that efficiently meet the structural performance target. In this paper, ISMD concept was applied to develop pigmentable engineered cementitious composites (ECC) for architectural applications. Finite element analysis was carried out to relate structural performance (load capacity and energy absorption) to composite mechanical properties (tensile and compressive) under live and dead loads. Subsequently, white (and therefore highly pigmentable) ECC was developed to meet the desired composite properties. This paper details the structural performance-composite properties analyses, and test data on white ECC designed for the large form-factor panels. Through this research, the effectiveness of ISMD is revealed.