Uniaxial tensile performance of high ductile fiber-reinforced concrete with built-in basalt textile grids

Abstract

Textile-reinforced concrete (TRC) is a cement-based material reinforced with textile grids and could be an alternative to fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) whose scope of application is impracticable. Under tension, the TRC matrix generally exhibits brittleness and is prone to peeling and slipping between the textile mesh. This study shows the uniaxial tensile tests of high ductile fiber-reinforced concrete (a cement-based composite reinforced with short synthetic fibers) embedded in basalt textile grids to exhibit the technique for overcoming the deficiencies in TRC. The mixed material was renamed as TR-HDC, and thirty-two groups of ninety-six tensile specimens were tested to investigate the mechanical properties of this composite material. The variable parameters included short-fiber volume fraction, matrix category, and textile grid level. The test results indicated that the short-fiber volume fraction and textile grid level dominated the tensile behavior of TR-HDC, while the types of substrates had a relatively small impact; in addition, by replacing the matrix of TRC with HDC, the reorganized compounding material exhibited superior mechanical properties. Finally, based on regression analysis of the experimental results, this study presents a formula to compute the ultimate uniaxial tensile strength of TR-HDC and provides related analytical models to describe the stress–strain behavior of such composites.