Textile Reinforced Concrete: Design Methodology and Novel Reinforcement

Fibre reinforcement has been used to reinforce concrete members for decades. It has combined well with concrete to help control cracking and increase toughness and other properties such as corrosion resistance. The use of traditional fibre reinforcement has led to the development of a new material called textile reinforcement (multifilament continuous fibre) which can also be used as the main reinforcement instead of steel reinforcement. This study experimentally investigates concrete beams reinforced only with carbon textile material (TRC beams). The tensile strength of textile reinforcement and pull out strength of TRC were measured. Four-point bending tests were performed on 76 beams (small and large scale beams). Several parameters such as volume fraction and reinforcement layout were studied in order to investigate their effect on TRC beam behaviour. The results showed that with the correct layout and geometry of textile reinforcement, these reinforced concrete beams, providing they had sufficient cover thickness, would perform well. Also, the results confirmed that the bond between the concrete and textile reinforcement plays a vital role in TRC beam performance. The behaviour of the TRC beams was compared with that of the steel reinforced concrete (SRC) beams; a major advantage of the TRC beam was the reduced crack widths.
This study finishes by proposing a design methodology for TRC beams. Guidance covers flexural design, predictions for moment-curvature, and predictions for crack width of TRC beams.