STUDY OF THE BENDING BEHAVIOUR OF TEXTILE REINFORCED CEMENTITIOUS COMPOSITES WHEN EXPOSED TO HIGH TEMPERATURES

The textile reinforced cement composite (TRC) used in this study has inorganic phosphate cement (IPC) as matrix, and randomly distributed chopped glass fibre textile as reinforcement. One of the major benefits of IPC compared to other cementitious materials is the non-alkaline environment of IPC after hardening, so ordinary E-glass fibres are not attacked by the matrix and can be used as reinforcement. By using a fibre volume fraction, which exceeds the critical fibre volume fraction, the fibres can ensure strength and stiffness at applied loads far exceeding the range in which matrix multiple cracking is developed, which results in a real strain hardening behaviour in tension. TRC with glass fibres as reinforcement exhibit relatively high strength and ductility and thus provide an interesting new material for construction even at high temperature. The material itself is characterised by a linear behaviour in compression and a marked non- linear tensile behaviour. A calculation method for bending is presented to derive the load displacement curves of a textile reinforced cementitious composite beam which is exposed to high temperature (300 degrees C). The method uses data form experimental tensile tests of similar specimens exposed to the same temperature, to calibrate the material stress - strain model.