Damage evaluation and mechanisms of textile reinforced concrete during telescopic failure

Abstract

Textile-reinforced concrete (TRC) offers a solution to the drawback associated with the production of cement and its use in construction. It also promotes the design of concrete in a post-cracking stage as the yarns bridge cracks once the concrete fails in tension. The pull-out behaviour of TRC has and still receives considerable attention to progress its use, but the full extent and types of mechanisms associated with the pull-out is not yet fully understood. This research sets out to investigate the pull-out mechanism when considering various embedment lengths, as well as employing the use of X-ray computed tomography and scanning electronic microscope imaging on the post-pull-out elements. The study identified a bottleneck mechanism, resulting from the undulating imprint the warp yarn produces, which improves the pull-out resistance of yarns. Additionally, the latter mentioned mechanism is also enhanced by the effect of congestion caused by filament debris, resulting from the telescopic failure.