Flexural Behavior of a Novel Textile-Reinforced Polymer Concrete

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Civil Engineering
• Polymer Science

Background:

• Textile reinforced concrete (TRC) is valued for its lightweight, high tensile strength, and durability.
• A key limitation of TRC is premature debonding between textile reinforcement and the concrete matrix.
• This failure mechanism stems from inadequate impregnation of fibers by the cementitious binder.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel textile reinforced polymer concrete (TRPC) by replacing cement binder with polymer resin.
• To evaluate the flexural performance and ductility of TRPC compared to conventional TRC.
• To address the debonding issue in TRC by introducing a polymer matrix.

Main Methods:

• Manufactured TRPC specimens using fine-graded aggregate, methyl methacrylate polymer resin, and basalt fiber textile fabric.
• Created four configurations with 0, 1, 2, and 3 textile layers.
• Compared flexural performance, moment capacity, deflection, toughness, and crack patterns against TRC with similar compressive strength.

Main Results:

• TRPC demonstrated significantly improved moment capacity (51-158%), deflection at peak load (858-3803%), and toughness (1909-4355%) compared to TRC.
• The number of textile layers directly influenced the performance enhancements.
• Image processing quantified superior ductility and plasticity in TRPC.

Conclusions:

• TRPC offers a substantial upgrade in flexural capacity and ductility over traditional TRC.
• The polymer matrix effectively mitigates the debonding issues observed in TRC.
• TRPC presents a promising alternative for structural applications demanding high performance and durability.