Textile-reinforced concrete (TRC) or fabric-reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM) is a composite concrete material that employs textile reinforcement instead of steel reinforcement. TRC is being widely used in building for the past two decades and is a promising solution for retrofitting and strengthening concrete structures .
The fabrics or textiles used for TRC are jute, glass, fiber, kevlar, polyamides, nylon etc.
This article explores the important features, properties and advantages of textile-reinforced concrete.
Tensile-reinforced concrete produces structures that are thin and malleable in nature. They have the ability to retain the high tensile strength of concrete.
The textile mesh used for reinforcement must be open enough to allow concrete to pass through it during the concrete pouring process. The placement of the reinforcement also plays an crucial role in providing final strength to the concrete.
The TRC material used must have high elongation before breaking, high tensile strength and a modulus of elasticity higher than the concrete matrix surrounding it.
It possesses an open-mesh configuration as shown in Figure-2, with inorganic matrices like cement or hydraulic-lime-based mortars. Textile-reinforced concrete is composed of high-strength fibers which are in the form of textiles. The composite substance employs a fine concrete matrix and a high-performance fiber substance. Some of the top fabric substances used for TRC are alkali-resistant (AR) glass or basalt.
These fiber rovings are spaced and arranged to form a mesh. The textile mesh reinforcement for concrete consists of fiber rovings that are arranged in two or more directions. These perforations between the fiber rovings enable mechanical interlocking between the concrete matrix and the reinforcement. These textiles are available with a coating. Coated textile reinforcement improves the stability of the textile reinforcement and the mechanical interlocking with the matrix. Coated textiles are stiffer, like steel fabrics, but cannot be used in complex geometries.
Usually, the commercially available mesh size of most common non-metallic textiles for concrete strengthening application varies between 8 and 30 mm. Figure-2 shows the textiles that are used for textile-reinforced concrete. They weigh between 150 to 600 g/m 2 . The weight of the textile mesh varies with the type of substance.
The fabric fibers unite with the mortar for achieving a good bond. The mortar or the concrete mix used for TRC must have adequate plastic consistency, low viscosity, good workability, and adequate shear strength to achieve this bond. So, mostly cement-based matrix is most commonly used for TRC systems.
The main factors that influence the production of textile-reinforced concrete are:
The particle size of different ingredients in concrete used for TRC must be selected carefully. Coarser concrete mix does not pass through the textile reinforcement.
It is recommended to use fresh concrete for the production of TRC. The use of chemical admixture helps the textile fibers to stick to the concrete.
The textile reinforcement is either hand-laid or by mechanical means into the concrete. It is arranged in concrete in the direction of the main tensile stress. This ensures a higher degree of effectiveness to the concrete structure. The procedures for creating TRC vary from traditional methods to pultrusion methods. The common methods to produce TRC are:
The textile covers and gets embedded with the concrete. In this method, the textile is pushed into a slurry infiltration chamber. Then the concrete is squeezed into the textiles using rollers. Rollers of various specifications are used to get the desired shape and size of the concrete.
The main advantages of TRC are:
The important applications of TRCs are:
The roof was engineered using four TRC pieces. Each piece of roof is made thin and double-curved in the shape of a hyperbolic paraboloid. One real example of large-scale textile-reinforced concrete is a pavilion constructed at RWTH University in Germany.
Textile-reinforced concrete (TRC) or fabric-reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM) is a composite concrete material that employs textile reinforcement instead of steel reinforcement.
The fabrics or textiles used for TRC are jute, glass, fiber, kevlar, polyamides, nylon, etc.
The main advantages of textile-reinforced concrete (TRC) are: 1. TRC provide effective framework 2. TRC consumes less concrete 3. TRC is less costly compared to R.C.C 4. TRC develops thin and light-weight frameworks 5. Textile reinforcement used in TRC have high corrosion resistance 6. TRC are sustainable in nature 7. TRC retrofitting increase life of old frameworks
Bridge construction 2. The crucial applications of textile-reinforced concrete are: 1. Retrofitting old structures 3. To act as a protective layer for existing buildings To heat the buildings 4.