Textile-cement bond enhancement: Sprinkle some hydrophilic powder

Abstract

Textile reinforced concrete (TRC) has recently gained significant attention in the field of construction. The textile is made of multifilament yarns that exhibit telescopic pull-out behavior reducing its reinforcing efficiency. The remedy lies in epoxy coating, which facilitates full utilization of all filaments within the yarn during loading. Nevertheless, the obtained interfacial bonding between the hydrophilic cementitious matrix and hydrophobic epoxy coating is rather weak. In this study, several coating strategies were employed to enhance the interface bonding by modifying the textile surface with graphene oxide or cement powder. The effect of these coatings on the pull-out behavior of a single multifilament yarn from a cementitious matrix was systematically investigated and compared to that of plain or neat epoxy-coated yarns. The pull-out mechanism was found to involve adhesion followed by friction. The best adhesion between the epoxy-coated yarn and the cementitious matrix was obtained for cement powder sprinkled over freshly coated epoxy yarn, yielding an enhancement in chemical debonding energy of 472% compared to a plain yarn. The highest slippage energy (indicating friction) was obtained for a coated epoxy surface decorated with a small amount of cement or graphene oxide particles, which provided improved mechanical anchoring.