Increasing the efficiency of carbon fiber bundles in reinforcing fine grained concrete: an experimental study of flexural bearing capacity

The use of Textile Reinforced Concrete (TRC) materials have been developed in the construction industry due to their superior mechanical properties as well as corrosion-resistant and light weight concrete with high load-bearing capacity. Fine grained concrete penetrated within the bundle of fibers (rovings) partially. This fact reduce the load bearing capacity of fibers and enhance ductility after the first cracks. The fibers efficiency is the key aspect in the bending behavior of TRCs. The purpose of this study was to increase the fibers efficiency of TRCs. In this research, the influence of weft insertion wrap knitted fabrics by different number of carbon rovings on the flexural strength, ductility, toughness and failure mode under four points bending test evaluated experimentally. Furthermore, the fibers efficiency was improved by partially impregnated fabrics with spotted epoxy. This technique causes increased fiber efficiency in comparison with the fabric without epoxy upper fifty present and improving bending properties of TRCs.