Influence of textile alignment, moisture and shape of specimens on first crack load and load bearing behavior of textile reinforced concrete containing short fibers

Abstract

For more than ten years researchers have concentrated on the development as well as on the mechanical properties of textile reinforced concrete. The tensile load bearing behavior of this new composite material is generally determined with tensile specimens in most different ways. The variety of specimens and test configurations lead however to the fact that results are not always comparable. Moreover, own results with uncoated AR-glass textiles showed relatively high scattering in the past. Some influences on the load bearing behavior could already be clarified. However, many questions are still unanswered. Therefore, it is the scope of this paper to investigate a set of influencing factors with regard to the first crack strength and the load bearing behavior of textile reinforced concrete. The investigated parameters include the alignment of the textile reinforcement, the moisture content of the specimens during testing and in some cases the specimen shape. Special attention was given to the repeatability of the results. © RILEM 2012.