ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Built Environ.
Sec. Construction Materials
This article is part of the Research TopicEco-Friendly Materials and Sustainable Technologies for Future InfrastructureView all articles
Life Cycle Assessment and Structural Evaluation of Sustainable and Cost effective Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC) Repair Mortars
Provisionally accepted
Dhanya Sathyan1*
Mareena George1,2- 1Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University, Coimbatore, India
- 2Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology, Kochi, India
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This study presents a comprehensive evaluation of a sustainable Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC) repair mortar developed using eco-efficient material modifications and its performance in rehabilitating partially distressed reinforced concrete (RC) beams. The environmental performance of the developed ECC was assessed through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) using the ReCiPe 2016 Endpoint (H) method, considering a cradle-to-gate system boundary. The incorporation of quarry dust powder, supplementary cementitious materials (GGBS and silica fume), polymer modifiers (SBR latex), internal curing agent Polyethylene glycol (PEG), and hybrid fibres significantly reduced the overall environmental impact and cost compared to conventional mixes containing silica sand and PVA fibres. To validate structural performance, RC beams were cast and subjected to flexural testing after simulated distress and repair and compared with commercially available repair mortar. The ECC-repaired beams exhibited improved load-carrying capacity, ductility, and crack control relative to beams repaired with conventional mortars. The combined LCA and experimental results confirm that the optimized ECC mortar offers a balanced solution for sustainable and durable repair applications in RC structures.
Keywords: Engineered cementitious composite (ECC), Sustainable repair mortar, life cycle assessment (LCA), Flexural performance, Corrosion damage, structural rehabilitation
Received: 10 Oct 2025; Accepted: 11 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sathyan and George. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Dhanya Sathyan
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