Enhancement Reinforcing Concrete Beams Using Polypropylene Cord-Knitted Bars

Abstract

Currently, technical fabrics play a major role in many industries due to their multiple characteristics. The aim of this research was to utilize composite knitted bars to reinforce concrete beams. Six cord-knitted samples with two different polypropylene yarn counts (outer layer) and three different core materials were manufactured and immersed in a local epoxy material (Kemapoxy 150). Composite knitted bars were prepared in this way. Several tests were conducted for fabrics and knitted bar samples. All data were collected and analysed using two different tools: ANOVA test and radar chart area. Finally, three concrete beams with a varying number of cord-knitted bars (one bar, two bars and three bars) were produced. The results indicated that the differences in outer and core yarns for cord-knitted samples have a significant effect on several fabric and bar characteristics. The knitted bars with PP core yarn can be more beneficial for concrete that do does not require high stress, while the knitted bars using glass fibres and polypropylene (50% and 50% PE) as core materials are not appropriate for applications that require more flexibility and extensibility. Reinforced concrete beams were improved significantly with cord-knitted bars, taking into account the number of bars per area, which may cause the minimizing of flexure force through an increase in that number of bars per area.