Investigations on textile-reinforced concrete as cover for RC beams

The present paper reports investigations carried out on textile-reinforced concrete (TRC) as a tension zone cover for reinforced concrete beams towards attaining improved serviceability and durability. TRC consists of a cementitious binder and an alkali-resistant glass fabric. To correlate the thickness of TRC cover to be used in reinforced concrete beams for various chloride exposure conditions such as mild, medium and extreme, rapid chloride permeability tests (RCPTs) are carried out. Microscopic examinations are also undertaken to correlate the RCPTs from a microscopic perspective. In addition, water absorption and sorptivity tests are conducted on the cementitious binder used in the TRC. To investigate the structural performance of reinforced concrete beams with TRC cover, experimental investigations are carried out under flexural loading. The number of layers used in the TRC and the total cover thickness are varied in the investigations. It is observed that these beams have good ductility and low crack width. Overall, it is concluded that the use of TRC as a tension zone cover in reinforced concrete beams is an effective method, and a unified cover thickness can be considered for all chloride exposure conditions.