State-of-the-art review on experimental investigations of textile-reinforced concrete exposed to high temperatures

Abstract

Textile-reinforced concrete (TRC) is a promising composite material with enormous potential in structural applications because it offers the possibility to construct slender, lightweight, and robust elements. However, despite the good heat resistance of the inorganic matrices and the well-established knowledge on the high-temperature performance of the commonly used fibrous reinforcements, their application in TRC elements with very small thicknesses makes their effec-tiveness against thermal loads questionable. This paper presents a state-of-the-art review on the thermomechanical behavior of TRC, focusing on its mechanical performance both during and after exposure to high temperatures. The available knowledge from experimental investigations where TRC has been tested in thermomechanical conditions as a standalone material is compiled, and the results are compared. This comparative study identifies the key parameters that determine the mechanical response of TRC to increased temperatures, being the surface treatment of the textiles and the combination of thermal and mechanical loads. It is concluded that the uncoated carbon fibers are the most promising solution for a fire-safe TRC application. However, the knowledge gaps are still large, mainly due to the inconsistency of the testing methods and the stochastic behavior of phenomena related to heat treatment (such as spalling).