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• The self-recovery performance of SMAF-ECC under cyclic tensile loading were studied, which can provide important basis for establishing a tensile theoretical model. • SMA fibers increase the ultimate strain and ultimate tensile strength of the specimens, and significantly reduce the residual crack width and residual deformation. • The influence of SMA fiber diameter and fiber content to the self-recovery performance of the specimens was studied and analyzed. • The stress state of SMA fibers during the loading process was investigated, providing a basis for evaluating the performance of SMA superelasticity. The incorporation of superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) fibers into engineered cementitious composites (ECC) has led to a novel composite material, SMAF-ECC, which possesses excellent deformation, energy dissipation, and self-recovery capabilities. To understand the self-recovery performance of this new composite material under tensile loading, this study conducted uniaxial cyclic tension tests on SMAF-ECC specimens to investigate stress, strain, crack width, strain recovery rate, and crack recovery rate, while also considering the primary influencing factors such as SMA fiber diameter and content. The results indicate that the addition of SMA fibers improves the ultimate strain and ultimate tensile strength of ECC; increasing fiber content effectively enhances the strain and crack recovery rates of SMAF-ECC specimens, with the maximum strain recovery rate and crack recovery rate of the tested specimens reaching 69% and 77%, respectively. Both too large and too small SMA fiber diameters lead to reduced recovery rates. In this experiment, when the fiber diameter was 0.5 mm, the strain and crack recovery rates of the specimens were the highest, with a crack recovery rate of 53%, approximately 1.7 times that of specimens with 1 mm and 0.2 mm diameter SMA fibers. These findings provide a reliable basis for establishing a theoretical model of the tensile mechanical properties of SMAF-ECC composite materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]